Journey of Compassion; begins with the end in mind…

What a wonderful way to start a Journey of Compassion…with just returning from Beijing, and having the incredible opportunity to step foot on part of the Great Wall of China, to see one of the great Wonders of the World, the feeling can only be described as unbelievable.

Standing there I realized what an incredible feat it was to construct such a wall around about 3,000 years ago! there are also differing sources of information with some saying that The Wall is approximately 6,400 kilometers in length…can you imagine that!!!!!

I wonder whether when they began building this wall they had the end result in mind, I’m sure they would have as they knew that eventually this wall would keep them safe as it was built mainly to protect the Chinese Empire from the Mongolians and other invaders.

Our entry point to commence this incredible journey will be Beijing, the capital of China, one of the fastest growing countries in the world. The city covers an area of more than 16,410 square kilometers (6336 square miles) and has a population of 14.93 million people.

How can one city boast so many phenomenal places? Beijing's long and illustrious history started some 500,000 years ago. Records show that Beijing has been an inhabited city for more than three thousand years and has endured invasions by warlords and foreign powers, devastating fires, the rise and fall of powerful imperial dynasties and has emerged each time as a strong and vibrant city.

This is the perfect place to witness changes; this country went from ruler to ruler over many centuries, from Communism to Capitalism, to now being on the world’s stage with being the host for the 2008 Olympic Games.

If we let our hearts free to feel the compassion for these people and what they have been through, we can truly appreciate and understand them as a people, a culture, be intrigued by their incredible history, and wonder at their achievements, we don’t have to look any further than the Great Wall of China as a symbol of this country and it’s people.

When we have love, compassion and understanding for our fellow man the end result will be that our experiences will be incredibly gratifying and enriching.