You have the strength to be of help to other people, because you’ve got a sense of well-being inside. You realize that no matter how bad things get outside, you’ve still got a safe place where you can go.

"Have good will [mettā] toward your breathing, compassion, appreciation, equanimity towards your breathing. In other words, allow the breath to be comfortable so that you can have a foundation. Where it’s not comfortable, work at making it more comfortable: That’s compassion. Where it is comfortable, appreciate it. Sometimes, especially in the very beginning, the states of comfort seem to be very minor and not impressive at all. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have the potential to be more impressive. You’ve got to give them a little space.

It’s like oak trees. They start out as tiny little acorns. Or even better, think of coastal redwoods. They start as the tiniest little seeds, and yet the tallest trees on earth come from these tiny, tiny seeds. Develop the conditions, allow them to grow and they become a huge forest.

It’s the same with a sense of well-being in the body. First find areas that are simply not in pain, that seem okay. That’s good enough. Just be very careful to keep them okay. Don’t let the way you breathe push them or pull them, or squeeze them or anything. Just let them be all right, continuously, all the way through the in breath, all the way through the out breath, and they’ll begin to grow. They develop a sense of fullness, and then you can allow that sense of fullness to expand throughout whatever parts of the body can pick it up. As for equanimity, when there are areas that you can’t improve, develop equanimity for those. Focus instead on the areas where you can make a difference. Don’t get worked up over the things you can’t improve, because that gets in the way of seeing where can you make a difference, where can you be of help.

Once you get practice in dealing with the breath in your own body in this way, then it’s a lot easier to develop these attitudes toward other people, because you’ve got a sense of well-being inside. You realize that no matter how bad things get outside, you’ve still got a safe place where you can go. From that position you can see more clearly and you have the strength to be of help where you can."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Equanimity"

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