Detached, but with Compassion

When you watch your dramas on television or in your theaters, how do you feel at the end?  If it was a comedy, are you not uplifted?  If it was a horror show, are you not horrified?  And if it had a sad ending, do you not desire to cry?  Why, it was not even your story, and yet you react as if it was.  This is how empathy works.  You take on the thoughts and feelings of other people’s dramas.  This is not always good for the soul.  Can you be compassionate as you help others with their circumstances without getting caught up in the ups and downs of their drama?  Yes, it is possible and most highly recommended.  It is called practicing detached compassion.  You can send all of the love that is you without taking yourself on a roller coaster ride.  Such rides are found at amusement parks, and they are amusing, yes.  But after a while the ups and downs can and oft do make the body sick.  Be aware of being caught in others’ drama and be compassionately detached.