Compassion

I recently came across this exercise that I'm trying to do and I think you'll find it interesting. It's only something to ponder but it immediately seemed as if it was worthwhile. The exercise is aimed at building a sense of compassion within me. There are times in life when I get fed up at people who wrong me, even if in a greater perspective, these imagined wrongs are minor. The one example that always gets me is a car that cuts me off on the highway. It happens a lot here and I always feel that someone is getting something over on me. It's a feeling of helplessness yet I always know that the potential for it to happen is always there. I get defensive and it always seems throw me into a negative spiral of frustration. So what if, instead of getting mad at that that person, I attempt to understand that person's suffering. Obviously, the self-importance that makes a person cut off another, and even endangers them, has to originate from some internal wound that causes them to suffer. Everyone suffers. So what if I imagine that suffering as a cloud of black smoke eminating from their body. And what if every one on my block had some black smoke eminating from them. And what if every living being had black smoke eminating them. What if I were to inhale this black smoke and take it into the the very depths of my body. And the black smoke somehow lessened my own pride and self-importance, the kind of feelings that make me want to seek revenge on the driver who cut me off. And by diminishing my self-importance or the things that make me feel injured becuase of the suffering of others, I developed a greater capacity for compassion. I understand suddenly why this driver has to cut me off. And it would be better if this person were in the world and began to heal from the suffering. What if that compassion were to manifest itself as the white light and steam that eminated from me when I exhaled? The white light then has the ability to heal that driver and all other living beings who suffer, even to the slightest degree. Doing this exercise may not have a direct impact on this person, but it exercises my compassion muscle and makes it stronger. And after doing this exercise everyday for a little while, it somehow allows me to not feel as wronged as I had in this past when I get cut off by another driver. And I need not take revenge or feel the need to raise the middle fingered salute. I also read an article about a study that showed physiological changes in the brains of monks who practiced this exercise while meditating. They were happier and the proof could be seen with an MRI.
One time I got into mountain biking and I started out as a couch potato and I soon realized that after biking 20-plus miles every weekend, my thighs became as thick as tree trunks. I was always the last person up the hill but I could tell how the little bit of work over a long period paid off.