This Month’s Being Game: Being Compassionate by Speaking Powerfully

A Buddhist practice called Maitri, the practice of compassionate care and loving kindness, is a useful tool with which to practice compassion toward one’s self and each other.

To us, speaking powerfully means being deliberate, clear, and compassionate in our communication. This is particularly useful when there is something “hard” to say. As our President Jeff Marcous often says, “it’s notwhat you say; it’s how you say it”. Sacred Commerce suggests leaning into our discomfort by saying what we don’t want to say with compassion. This can bring us closer to our dreams and create love and trust in our relationships. On the job, this means always speaking the full truth, with kindness, to new leads and customers. Even if it is bad news and we don’t want to say it, we commit to doing the right thing.

Another a great way to practice speaking powerfully is by making requests. Here the belief is that we trust that others want what we want for ourselves. Speaking powerfully is a way to honor and even celebrate each other and ourselves by standing for who we really are, which we say is love. This month we are asking ourselves, “What stops me from speaking powerfully?” We find that this question gets us out of our heads and into our hearts, and into the present moment where we are more productive, innovative, and often happier. What stops you from speaking powerfully in a compassionate way?