{"id":462,"date":"2011-06-22T15:35:33","date_gmt":"2011-06-22T19:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thecelebritytherapist\/?p=462"},"modified":"2011-06-22T15:35:33","modified_gmt":"2011-06-22T19:35:33","slug":"learning-to-live-in-compassion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2011\/06\/learning-to-live-in-compassion.html","title":{"rendered":"Learning to Live in Compassion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sherry Gaba <\/strong>LCSW, Psychotherapist, Life & Recovery Coach is featured Celebrity Rehab on VH1. Sherry is the author of \u201cThe Law of Sobriety\u201d<\/a> which uses the law of attraction to recover from any addiction. Please download your copy of \u201cManifest Holistic Health<\/a>\u201d from Sherry\u2019s Enrich Your Life Series. Contact Sherry at sherry@sgabatherapy.com<\/a> for webinars, teleseminars, coaching packages and speaking engagements.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Anyone who is in recovery can look back on times in their life when others have deeply hurt them, and when they have deeply hurt others. But we cannot let those wounds fester forever, because they will cripple us. Learning to live in forgiveness and compassion are important and interrelated parts of the recovery process.<\/p>\n

You need to begin appreciating the gifts of sobriety even if you\u2019re still finding your way to your sober life, because embracing what is positive brings more positive change to you. But to appreciate what your life is offering you, you must first learn to forgive yourself for your mistakes and forgive others who have caused you pain. And to forgive, you must have compassion\u2014for yourself and for others.<\/p>\n

So you can\u2019t have appreciate without forgiveness, and you can\u2019t have forgiveness without compassion. But compassion is not always easy. And sometimes it runs right up against our notion of justice. How can we have compassion for those who have hurt us so deeply? How can we expect others to have compassion for us when we have hurt them? And how can we have compassion for ourselves when we have screwed up so badly?<\/p>\n

Rabbi Jackie Tabick has an interesting take on that subject. She\u2019s the first woman in Britain to be ordained as a rabbi, and you can watch her talk about what Judaism says about balancing compassion and justice here: http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/jackie_tabick.html<\/a>. She makes the point that if all we had in the world was compassion, we\u2019d also have chaos; justice is what creates the boundaries that give us a sense of right and wrong. But a world with only justice and no compassion is a world without God. The problem is that justice is easy for us humans to dish out, but compassion is hard.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Tabick said something in her talk that I think can make it easier for all of us to find compassion within us. She said, \u201cThis idea of compassion comes to us because we\u2019re made in the image of God, who is, ultimately, the compassionate one. What does this compassion entail? It entails understanding the pain of the other. But even more than that, it means understanding one\u2019s connection to the whole of creation. . . . I call that unity God. And that unity is something that connects all of creation.\u201d<\/p>\n

So the compassion we put out into the world comes back to us, because we are all connected. Our profound compassion for others is what leads others to forgive us. Ultimately, compassion for others is what enables us to forgive ourselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sherry Gaba LCSW, Psychotherapist, Life & Recovery Coach is featured Celebrity Rehab on VH1. Sherry is the author of \u201cThe Law of Sobriety\u201d which uses the law of attraction to recover from any addiction. Please download your copy of \u201cManifest Holistic Health\u201d from Sherry\u2019s Enrich Your Life Series. Contact Sherry at sherry@sgabatherapy.com for webinars, teleseminars,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":402,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,147,13,14,153,15,16],"tags":[18,23,24,26,27,29,30,34,37,39,41,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,56,58,59,61,64,67,69,70,73,75,77,78,79,80,82,83,84,85,86,87,89,92,94,96],"class_list":["post-462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-12-steps","category-aa","category-addiction","category-agoura-psychotherapist-westlake-village-psychotherapist-calabasas-psychotherapist-malibu-psychoth","category-beyond-addiction","category-celebrity-addiction","category-celebrity-news","category-celebrity-rehab","category-law-of-attraction","category-law-of-sobriety","category-love-addiction","category-mental-health","category-recovery","category-sex-addiction-2","category-sobriety","category-soft-addiction","tag-actors-in-recovery","tag-addiction-specialist","tag-addictions","tag-agoura-hills","tag-agoura-hills-psychotherapist","tag-alternative-medicine","tag-binge-eating","tag-calabasas","tag-celebrity-addiction-2","tag-celebrity-rehab-2","tag-co-dependency","tag-diet","tag-dr-drew","tag-drug-addiction","tag-feelings-and-emotions","tag-food-addiction","tag-gambling-addiction","tag-health","tag-internet-addiction","tag-intervention","tag-law-of-attraction-2","tag-life-coach","tag-life-coaching","tag-malibu","tag-melody-beattie","tag-metpahysical","tag-moorpark","tag-motivation","tag-positive-change","tag-pupose","tag-recovery-2","tag-recovery-coaching","tag-recovery-information","tag-rehabilitation","tag-self-discovery","tag-self-discovery-professionals","tag-shopping-addiction","tag-simi-valley","tag-spiritual","tag-spirituality","tag-substance-abuse","tag-thousand-oaks","tag-weight-loss","tag-westlake-village-psychotherapist"],"yoast_head":"\nLearning to Live in Compassion - The Celebrity Therapist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2011\/06\/learning-to-live-in-compassion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Learning to Live in Compassion - The Celebrity Therapist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sherry Gaba LCSW, Psychotherapist, Life & Recovery Coach is featured Celebrity Rehab on VH1. Sherry is the author of \u201cThe Law of Sobriety\u201d which uses the law of attraction to recover from any addiction. Please download your copy of \u201cManifest Holistic Health\u201d from Sherry\u2019s Enrich Your Life Series. Contact Sherry at sherry@sgabatherapy.com for webinars, teleseminars,…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2011\/06\/learning-to-live-in-compassion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Celebrity Therapist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-06-22T19:35:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thecelebritytherapist\/files\/2011\/06\/holding_hands-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sherry Gaba\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Learning to Live in Compassion - The Celebrity Therapist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2011\/06\/learning-to-live-in-compassion.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Learning to Live in Compassion - The Celebrity Therapist","og_description":"Sherry Gaba LCSW, Psychotherapist, Life & Recovery Coach is featured Celebrity Rehab on VH1. Sherry is the author of \u201cThe Law of Sobriety\u201d which uses the law of attraction to recover from any addiction. Please download your copy of \u201cManifest Holistic Health\u201d from Sherry\u2019s Enrich Your Life Series. Contact Sherry at sherry@sgabatherapy.com for webinars, teleseminars,…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2011\/06\/learning-to-live-in-compassion.html","og_site_name":"The Celebrity Therapist","article_published_time":"2011-06-22T19:35:33+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thecelebritytherapist\/files\/2011\/06\/holding_hands-150x150.jpg"}],"author":"Sherry Gaba","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2011\/06\/learning-to-live-in-compassion.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2011\/06\/learning-to-live-in-compassion.html","name":"Learning to Live in Compassion - The Celebrity Therapist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2011\/06\/learning-to-live-in-compassion.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2011\/06\/learning-to-live-in-compassion.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thecelebritytherapist\/files\/2011\/06\/holding_hands-150x150.jpg","datePublished":"2011-06-22T19:35:33+00:00","dateModified":"2011-06-22T19:35:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/#\/schema\/person\/0741dfc75bdebc7207322576ec56d97e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2011\/06\/learning-to-live-in-compassion.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2011\/06\/learning-to-live-in-compassion.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2011\/06\/learning-to-live-in-compassion.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thecelebritytherapist\/files\/2011\/06\/holding_hands-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thecelebritytherapist\/files\/2011\/06\/holding_hands-150x150.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2011\/06\/learning-to-live-in-compassion.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Learning to Live in Compassion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/","name":"The Celebrity Therapist","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Sherry Gaba","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/#\/schema\/person\/0741dfc75bdebc7207322576ec56d97e","name":"Sherry Gaba","description":"If you think you might be codependent or a love addict, get Sherry\u2019s FREE Ebook, \u201cThe Truth about Codependency\u201d https:\/\/wakeuprecovery.com\/codependency-quiz\/ Sherry maintains a private practice in Westlake Village, and is a sought after transformationn and recovery coach. For more information visit www.sherrygaba.com or sign up today for Sherry\u2019s online group coaching program for codependents for $19\/month https:\/\/wakeuprecovery.com\/become-a-member-co\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/author\/sherrygaba"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/402"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":466,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462\/revisions\/466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}