The Human Touch
The Importance of Connecting With People
“Deep in our hearts, we already know the answer.” ~ Deeya Siddhi
“The worst illness of our time is that so many people have to suffer from never being loved.”
~ Princess Diana
I invite you to take a moment to deeply contemplate this: when was the last time you were ‘touched’ — truly touched?
And I don’t mean touched just in a physical way. I mean touched by someone or something in a way that truly moved you, that made you feel wanted and special. That made you feel cared for.
And when was the last time that YOU reached out and touched someone else, whether through a handshake, a kind gesture or word, a loving glance, or some act of compassion?
Please, stop reading for a moment and really contemplate this. Now, I would like to draw your attention to the words of a lady we love and miss very much, Princess Diana. “The worst illness of our time is that so many people have to suffer from never being loved.” ~ Princess Diana
In her role, she had the unique opportunity to reach out and touch many, far and wide. In her charity work, which she held very close to her heart, she chose to touch those affected with the most stigmatized illnesses such as HIV/AIDS and leprosy. But don’t we ALL have that choice?
Princess Diana, ‘The Queen of Hearts’ as she later became known, was the most photographed woman in history, allowing us to see how she reacted to the plight of others.
Can you see it? Can you feel it? This little one is being held with the Torch of Her Heart. How this must touch him, despite his immense suffering.
The Princess did not care for protocol, she cared for people. That’s why they called her ‘The People’s Princess.’ She was, in fact, considered a rebel of her time and was even shunned by some of The Royal Family for her ‘radical’ behaviour. She refused to wear gloves and made a conscious effort to reach out to those affected with diseases like leprosy to touch them or hold their hands.
Notice how she holds this young child. She has reached out to him with not just the physical touch of her hands and body, but with pure Heart Energy… not caring how she might look or what others might think, but losing herself in the moment.
“…two things stand like stone, kindness in another’s trouble and courage in your own.”
Adam Lindsay Gordon
She herself had been hurt deeply – as many of us have – and so she knew what it felt like to suffer. Yet through bearing her own cross, she was moved to help others heal.
Like Diana, most of us, including those of us on the spiritual path, have known tremendous pain and suffering first-hand. Have you ever asked why that should be? Deep in our hearts, we already know the answer.
For we must ask ourselves when the last time was that WE opened ourselves enough to truly care for someone in this deep and profound, ‘Queen of Hearts’ manner?
Do WE reach out and touch others in whatever way we can – or do we shrink away and avoid confronting what is, perhaps, ‘uncomfortable’ for us? Is it easier for us to cross the road when we see someone whose brother has just committed suicide — as we worry that we won’t have the right words to say or know how to best react? Do we pretend we didn’t see the street beggar because we wonder about how ‘genuine’ he is? And do we refuse to acknowledge animal cruelty because it upsets us to see it, to look at it?
“Ernest Hemingway once said that most people don’t listen at all – they simply wait for their turn to talk. How true this is!”
Shouldn’t caring really mean sharing?
For how long can we turn a blind eye, or a deaf ear, because we find situations are too difficult or uncomfortable to face, because we find the pain is simply too much for us to bear?
What is happening to our human race? Does it feel futile for us to do anything, or does it feel futile to even try to do something? Personally, I have taken inspiration from these words of Diana: “…two things stand like stone, kindness in another’s trouble and courage in your own.”
“The sick, the old, the handicapped, the homeless, the lonely, the confused and the simply unloved … are needing your help more than ever.”
Princess Diana
Listening is Love
‘Listening’, surely, is one of the most caring and respectful acts one person can do for another. It signifies that you value the other person, that you care to hear them, and it enhances their feeling of self-worth.
By listening… truly listening… you can better understand both what that person is trying to communicate and what he or she truly needs from you. Real listening leads to a warm exchange, a true communication that can lead to a beautiful outcome.
It’s sad, but how many of us have been in verbal tennis matches, tossing points and counterpoints back and forth over the proverbial net to be left, in most cases, feeling dissatisfied? Like nothing worthwhile was really shared… that we weren’t ‘heard’?
Why do conversations, meant to be co-operative, so often become confrontational? If you were to listen to a recording of a recent conversation, I’d be willing to say that you would notice that one person really wasn’t listening to the other.
Once you are aware that listening is important, indeed a crucial ‘key’ to caring relationships, it really comes down to disciplining yourself to employ it. If you can train yourself to use this key, you will see a change in how others react to you and unlock something truly special, a bond of mutual trust.
Please think about the people who have had the most influence in your life — did they listen to you? How did they make you feel? Special and valued? Did they touch you in some special way?
You, too, can be one of those special people who makes a difference in someone’s life by simply becoming aware of, and employing, this natural, inherent skill… the ability to listen. With a bit of practice, it becomes effortless and natural again and, in fact, can be a meditation in itself.
Are you prepared to demonstrate loving kindness and compassion with the Torch of YOUR ‘Hearing’ Heart as Diana did?
Surely Diana’s legacy is in showing us that we too … each and every one of us … has the power to heal, to ‘hear’… to deeply touch …others.
Please remember, words have no meaning … but people DO.
In closing, I implore you to offer your help to those around you.
Click here to discover Deeya’s Written Resources Library to read more powerful articles like this.
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