Compassion isn’t about becoming less focused or less able but about becoming refocused and more able. If you think of people who are seen as very compassionate, such as Buddha, Christ, Nightingale, Gandhi and Mandela, you’d hardly call them under-achievers. Indeed, compassionate people can often be inspired to work for a cause. Developing self-compassion, therefore, is not simply a case of sitting around contemplating one’s navel or just having nice thoughts about oneself. Developing self-compassion can be hard work and can inspire us to hard work.
