What is ‘genuine care’? And why is it valuable?
Getting to know and become more aware of care that is genuine, may be the pathway to actions that can heal and are of benefit to the heart, mind, body, and spirit of ourselves, others and the whole environment.
Getting to know and become more aware of care that is genuine, may be the pathway to actions that can heal and are of benefit to the heart, mind, body, and spirit of ourselves, others and the whole environment.
For so long we have striven for success in ways that have moved us from understanding how to bring genuine care that relates to our authentic and unique self. We often do things where we gain personally; perhaps financially, status, title, recognition, followers or other, without realising the cost to ourselves or others.
As we become less in tune with ourselves, we may no longer see, hear or feel the nature of this cost; the pain or harm we may be inflicting. We may not notice for example the foods that cause us discomfort, the mind talk causing us anxiety, the posture that is damaging our backs, the mental pain of not getting in return.
We may not notice things around us, that may look and sound ‘nice’, however what belies them, may be unhelpful, harmful or even dangerous.
If you look at the simple example of a salesperson who intends to sell you a product that will give them the most commission, they will talk in a very nice and polite manner, and tell you all the positives about the product they are selling.
Despite the product not suiting your needs, you may buy it anyway. Or a scammer, who appears helpful at first, yet fraudulently takes your money, without ‘a blink’.
We may not even notice how our own intentions behind our ‘do good’ actions, are not always for good. For example you may use altruistic and generous acts for a purpose, perhaps to get something in return; financially, status, title, recognition, followers or other.
We are often hardly aware of our motives or we don’t want to face or admit these other things that lie inside of us.
Where do we actually sit in the balance of care versus harm?
More people are wanting to do something as they watch what is happening in the world, and governments are funding projects for that to happen.
New industries / social enterprises for those people missing out on basic living essentials (foodbanks and the like), or for the environment with services to clean up waterways, plant trees, recycle.
In the short term, these services and actions fill gaps. What they do not do, is get to the core of the matter, to address what has caused the problem for the long term.
“My annual reminder, that food banks are not part of our social safety net. They are a sign that our social safety net is not working.” Jenny Wright
This quote, I feel sums up our need to not become complacent when looking for solutions / alternatives. What do you feel?
So, how do we get to the core? To break this reactive ‘fix it’ approach, that does not address the lack of justice and care in the first place?
Can we reach the core, and break the current way we go about addressing issues?
Can we find a collective approach, and seek the path of least harm and most benefit, for others, the environment as well as ourselves?
Can we see beyond our own turmoil and needs and feel connected to the whole, for the survival of humanity and the planet?
Can we find this type of genuine? Where the better we all are, the better we all are.
With what is now being uncovered, it is clear there is hope. Hope in that the heart provides a pathway.
‘The heart holds the answers, the brain refuses to see’ Rob Kall
Scientific and anecdotal evidence shows the heart beholds non bias genuine honesty, unique to each of us.
It goes beyond the words, the talk, the thoughts we have collected and repeated over and again.
Getting this distraction out is important, otherwise the multitude of perspectives, thoughts, wants and ideas, will stay inside you and become very confusing and left to fester.
When arriving at the centre calm, the heart, it becomes possible to feel genuine care. That care comes with no attachment to rules, conditioning, strategy, expectations, exchange, duty, rather just a truth with how you see and feel in that moment.
What arrives in that moment is an unknown. Genuine in any moment, does not have criteria to uphold. Genuine is felt, and what (the want) that arrives, is unique in that moment.
This was brought to light through the story about James Bowen, a heroin addict experiencing homelessness, who overcame his addiction thanks to a stray cat, he named Bob. In 2007, James found Bob injured, and began caring for him. This gave him purpose and helped him quit heroin and restore his life. He went on to write a book titled ‘A Street Cat Named Bob’ that shares his journey.
When we learn to bring genuine in this way, we can express, tap into an honesty and intelligence to naturally feel the want to make the ‘calls’ and bring the actions needed to address the core matters.
How do you feel about the concept of genuine care?
You may like to read this post HERE to determine if this heart-based approach is for you?