By now, a lot of people are aware that in an interview with Cosmopolitan magazine Chelsea Clinton said that she couldn’t remember a time in her life when her parents weren’t being “attacked.”

Juanita Broaddrick, “a former Clinton supporter who has said Bill Clinton raped her in 1978 took to Twitter to put Chelsea and her parents on blast.”

“Chelsea you said you don’t remember a time in your life that your parents weren’t being attacked. There’s a very good reason for this—your parents are not good people. Your father was, and probably still is, a sexual predator. Your mother has always lied and covered up for him.

2. Chelsea you said you don’t remember a time in your life that your parents weren’t being attacked.

— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 28, 2016

3. There’s a very good reason for this—your parents are not good people.

— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 28, 2016

4 your father was, and probably still is, a sexual predator. Your mother has always lied and covered up for him.

— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 28, 2016

5. I say again “I was 35 when Bill Clinton Raped me and Hillary tried to silence me. I am now 73. It never goes away”.

— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 28, 2016

Perhaps I am not alone in struggling with my reaction to this trending drama.

To me it seemed filled with suffering people all the way around—including even the “sexual predator”—and I knew I wanted to write about it, but from which perspective?

From the perspective of who was right?

From the perspective of who was wrong or even who was more wronged?

From the perspective of labels and how they keep us stuck or how a “Stand By Your Man” attitude can affect us.

Or even, from the perspective of “The Sins of the Father Should Not be Visited upon the Daughter.”

No matter which way I turned however, I didn’t feel mindful—I felt aversion raise its ugly head inside me.

I was having a strong reaction to all the parties involved and couldn’t seem to find my way to the equanimity that would “unchain me from the burden of having to judge…”

When I was a little girl, my father would always say, “If there is something about somebody that bothers you, it’s because that same thing exists inside of you.”

I hated it when he said that.

However, he had a point.

“All human beings are the same—made of human flesh, bones and blood. We all want happiness and want to avoid suffering. In other words, it is important to realize our sameness as human beings.” ~ Dalai Lama 

I decided to look deeper into myself before I began to write the article.

Perhaps I could uncover the stumbling block to my lack of compassion for the “other human beings” in the Broaddrick/Clinton drama.

“What was my ‘sameness’ with them?” I asked myself. “And how did what they do mirror what I have done in my own life.”

“If compassion for someone else becomes difficult, it can be useful to look at our own failings. What about the times we behaved spitefully? No one is perfect. Every one of us has screwed up, made mistakes, lost our patience and acted like an idiot.” ~ Victoria Fedden 

Amazingly, however, it was my coincidental reading of “A Child’s Prayer of Loving Kindness,” that brought it all together for me and uncovered what was ultimately getting in the way of my compassion.

I was afraid.

I was afraid to see that I too have carried hurts around with me for my entire 70+ years.

I was afraid to see that I too have clung to my illusions in the face of reality.

I was afraid to see how I have also judged others for their failures or mistakes.

I was afraid to see all the times I have merely used another person to my own ends and ignored someone saying no.

Most of all, I was afraid that I would never see myself as worthy of forgiveness for all the mistakes I had made in my life.

My reaction and judgment, and even my attempts to respond with compassion to the Broaddrick/Clinton drama were my unconscious attempts to keep my own fear at bay.

The realization provided me with exactly the kind of peace and equanimity that I was hoping for and in the end I realized that I didn’t need to write about the Broaddrick/Clinton trending issue at all.

If what I wanted was to cultivate compassion, the issue to write about wasn’t them.

It was me.

 

 

~

Author: Carmelene Siani

Image: Twitter,  YouTube

Editor: Travis May