To nurture life requires that we cultivate an attitude of respect for other living beings, not because there is anything special about them, but simply because they are living beings and therefore part of the network of life. For many of us, affection for plants and animals and for the earth comes easily enough. But when it comes to nurturing other people, we are not so sanguine.
In classical Buddhism there is a wonderful practice for cultivating the nurturing heart called sympathetic joy: imagine that the success or benefit that someone else is enjoying is also your own success or benefit. When someone wins, even if they have defeated you in the process, rather than saying, "What about me?" you train yourself to say, "How wonderful; this joy is mine also." Look for opportunities to replace your habitual way of thinking with the discipline of thinking in this new way.
— Norman Fischer in Taking Our Places