Transforming the meaning of suffering

- [Narrator] And finally, I'd like to talk about one more way that compassionate purpose can support us through difficulties, and that's by changing the meaning of what we've gone through in the past. That things we have experienced, adversity, pain, struggle, that they can go from being something that is purely bad, this horrible thing that I was the victim of to something that can still be bad but can also give rise to something good. Now we've seen some examples of this when people volunteered after a trauma or an illness, but another way to harness this benefit is to think about who you choose to give to, not necessarily immediately after a trauma but as part of how you express your compassionate intention. There are a lot of studies that show that there's a benefit to giving money to others. We know that when people donate money or donate objects to others, they get this warm glow. They get a boost of chemicals in…