Compassion for Life
by Philip W Mason
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GENRE: Self-Help, Non-fiction {as in (Body, Mind & Spirit / Inspiration & Personal Growth)}
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BLURB:
During life, everyone experiences difficult struggles and pain. The relief from this pain can come when either we recognize that we are only human and make an appropriate change for the better or when another person helps us recognize it and encourages us to make that change. These two phenomena are called self compassion and compassion and are great powers that people possess to make life better. They are the first steps to take towards a healing process that results in one being able to enjoy and share all the wondrous experiences that life has to offer.
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EXCERPT
When we read books or watch movies where one character helps another overcome a difficult situation, it stirs many emotions in us. If the giving character’s help works, and the affected character’s suffering is reduced (in other words, they are made happier), it makes us feel good that there is compassion in the world. The emotion we feel is that of compassion for the person when they are suffering, and we are made happier when their suffering is reduced. We have the urge to help them reduce their suffering even though we are only a bystander. This is an example of how someone else’s compassion encourages us to feel our own compassion for the suffering person.
When we root for the underdog, we have compassion for that person since we want to help them reduce their suffering and then be happier by winning. We want our display of compassion to help them increase their self-compassion, which could then cause them to believe they can win. If they do win, we are happy for them and happy that our feeling of compassion for them worked.
Compassion is a very important virtue to have in leaders. One characteristic all great leaders have in common is the ability to feel compassion. Abraham Lincoln had great compassion. He regularly spoke on the battlefield after a battle to try to ease the suffering of all those involved.
Some spiritual leaders have learned to fully accept their pain—pain does not change—and have increased their level of self-compassion so that they feel relatively small amounts of suffering.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
I grew up on small family farm in rural Gorham, Maine in the 1970’s. Farm life instilled in me a strong sense of values, including resilience, responsibility, and the necessity of team-work. When I graduated high school, I attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, starting off in mechanical engineering before switching to physics, and graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 1991. From there, I went to Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, earning my masters and finally a PhD in physics in 1998 with my dissertation “An Optically Detected Magnetic Resonance Study of Point Defects in Wide Band-gap Semiconductors.” I have, over the course of my career, put those degrees to good use at various high-tech companies including a five year stint at the Bell Labs Division of Lucent Technologies.
And for many of the last fifteen years, I have suffered with serious mental health issues.
I have had numerous in-patient and out-patient treatment sessions and have learned about human frailty and gained a better understanding of the human condition. This has taught me to have more compassion for the world. I have also come to learn that my mental illness is not my fault, for there was nothing I could have done to prevent it. I have come to accept it, have received medical care for it, and am now going through the process of healing from it. It is a very emotional recovery at times, and I now have hope for a much brighter future.
I am now able to love who I am and want to share that sense of hope and love with the rest of the world.
Connect with Philip W Mason
WEBSITE https://philipwmason.com/
GOODREADS https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53329158-compassion-for-life
Buy Compassion for Life
AMAZON.COM https://amazon.com/dp/022882673X
AMAZON.CA https://amazon.ca/dp/022882673X
KINDLE https://amazon.com/dp/BLOCKED20200427
BOOK DEPOSITORY https://www.bookdepository.com/Compassion-for-Life-Philip-W-Mason/9780228826736
SMASHWORDS https://www.smashwords.com/books/notPublished/1018386
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION DE
Philip W Mason will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
I liked the excerpt, sounds good.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great blurb and excerpt. This book sounds like a very interesting read.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great book, and I love the cover.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your Sunday!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing.
ReplyDelete