Compassion
by Jacqueline Ramirez
So
many people in this world suffer everyday from many things:
hunger, depression, loss of loved ones, abuse, poverty,
homelessness, and countless other things. Compassion is
define as: "a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for
another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a
strong desire to alleviate the suffering." Understanding
why people are in pain is one thing, but it is a true virtue
to feel compassion towards others. When someone says that
another person is compassionate, there is that knowledge
that this person cares for the feelings of others, but there
is much more to compassion than just caring. Compassion
is such a rare virtue held by people because it takes more
than understanding the pain and suffering that people experience,
it also takes being able to connect with someone on an emotional
level. In order to have true compassion for others the understanding
that you must have is one of their pains, you must feel
what they feel, take on their sorrow and find a way to help
them alleviate their pain. Compassion involves the heart
and soul of the person and when you put your heart and soul
into helping another, it translates into a different level
of helping. At an emotional level, people find it hard to
be compassionate; it is easier to ease someone's physical
suffering than their emotional suffering. When a person
is compassionate, they look beyond the suffering and pain
that the person feels and looks at the actual person to
help them. Associating compassion to everyday life is often
tied to helping the poor, giving time to charity work, but
what people often do not realize is that the compassion
that is often given is one that is superficial in a way
and does not reach its full potential. God is as always
compassionate and unconditionally loving and this absoluteness
is beyond the comprehension of many people. When we empathize
with others, we must truly understand without any prejudice
or judgement.
I have only seen one true example of compassion in my life,
but it has been consistent and always there, and that has
been my mother. She is able to sit at a table with a cup
of coffee and be able to talk to someone, just talk. With
those talks, she is able to relieve their worries for just
a few moments, sometimes hours. She has always felt that
by talking about your problems, it puts them out in the
open and allows you to face them head on. By doing this,
she associates with people in a way that she is able to
take their pain, understand what it is that they are suffering,
and be able to put people at peace by being a compassionate
person who listens and gives an outlet for the pain. Compassion
can take many foirms and be expressed in many ways. Compassion
does not have to be an action; it can be in the form of
a simple gesture, or a smile or even a conversation.
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