Paradoxical Delights #1
Stroking his white beard, he leaned back, with his eyes smiling warmly. He weighed each word carefully, perfectly articulating his thoughts as we discussed the best practices of nonprofit fundraising.
With decades of experience in this field and now involved more intimately as a Parkinson’s patient, he had a lot to offer. As he spoke, I suddenly realized what made him so uniquely endearing.
He has a compassionately cognitive way of communicating. With equal grace, he conveys his ideas with rational precision while simultaneously exuding pure compassion. He cares and he can elucidate with objective clarity.
In my experience, most people tend towards one or the other, not both. Some exercise so much care that rational thought seems to be set aside, while others remain defensive and overly academic and removed. Not this gentleman.
What a paradoxical delight! This visit stirred in me a desire to nurture the same blend of compassion and cognitive strength…a worthy pursuit.
Worth Repeating
Compassion is not about avoiding all conflicts; it’s more about the way in which we engage in differences and conflict.
― Paul A. Gilbert, The Compassionate Mind
