"Natural" Compassion

    I have been thinking lately that cultivating compassion requires a certain space to behold things as they are. Meditation is one of the spaces where compassion is able to flourish, because it's not a place where one indulges in over-thinking or even logical kinds of deduction.  I also believe, particularly after my visit to the aquarium yesterday, that observing nature and its creations can have a similar effect on the mind.  I think it takes a person out of the pitfalls of overthinking, to be able to simply feel in awe of the creation that doesn't belong to anyone in particular. When I look at the pictures I took yesterday on my cellphone, I am similarly reminded of the joy of connecting with sentient beings in a way where I am not projecting myself in any way onto what I am seeing.
  Is there anything particularly wrong with 'overthinking', you might ask? I get a sense in my own experiences that overthinking can lead to an illusion of control. It is as though the mind were trying to compromise on a lack of control by mentally categorizing and classifying things, with the intention of thinking that one is prepared the next time. But trying to be prepared is also a kind of safety measure which is often designed to protect the sense of self from harms, perceived or otherwise. It can also be a battleground in which one mentally tries to separate what is good from what is harmful in an experience, in the hopes of ensuring that one doesn't accidentally harm the good. But experience seems to suggest that good things often go with unpleasant situations, and vice versa. There is no way to insulate oneself against the hardships that life offers.
    I don't think there is a formula or a way to be 'stronger' or even 'kinder' in the face of adversity. The reason for this is quite simply that thoughts tend to obscure the strength and kindness that is a natural part of who sentient beings are. One already has these qualities, but often thoughts can get in the way because they tend to cut up experiences in often unnecessary or even violent ways. It is as though I were to receive a painting of a good friend and tried to use a crayon to accentuate the things I 'like' in the person's appearance and brush away the elements I dislike. In the process of trying to manipulate the world through thought, I tend to forget how spontaneous action in the world can often handle the situation much better than trying to make the world different through a kind of selective judgment.