Compassion

In this article I wanted to talk a little bit about compassion and why we should all learn to be more compassionate to one another.

Firstly, what exactly is compassion? “A strong feeling of sympathy and sadness for the suffering or bad luck of others and a wish to help them” [1] according to Cambridge dictionary this is the definition of compassion. Personally, I would go further than this and state that compassion is a deep appreciation for the suffering of others and having a deep appreciation for the human that is suffering. I argue that its only those of whom have suffered themselves who are the more compassionate because to appreciate the suffering of others you first need to appreciate that same suffering yourself by having experienced it firsthand.

To be able to give compassion out to others you need to first have an appreciation for the human being that is undergoing that suffering. It comes from a deep sense of “this is a human being that is undergoing this suffering” and having an appreciation for the harm that this suffering is causing said human being. To give compassion you first need to understand the suffering that is being inflicted upon the person and to understand that suffering it requires that you yourself are familiar with that same suffering by perhaps having undergone the same type or similar sorts of suffering. Compassion also means that you want to help that human being that is undergoing that suffering in an attempt to alleviate said suffering.

For me I have known various types of suffering in my life and it has made me a more compassionate individual for others that undergo the same type of suffering. But compassion also comes in the degree that you realize the nature of this world. This world is a hard place to live in and there is lots of suffering that you can endure in this treacherous and hard world we live in and having experienced what being in this world is like, its made me have much more appreciation for others that suffer in the same or similar ways that I have done in my life, because this world isn’t an easy place to live in, there is all sorts of suffering that one may endure on this world.

With compassion comes the ability to see the human facing that suffering and having an appreciation for the discomfort and hardship that this suffering gives and having a desire to alleviate said suffering. Compassion also doesn’t necessarily have to just be for us humans, but can be for everything that is living, for example animals, animals are just as capable of experiencing suffering as we humans are therefore, they deserve compassion just as much as we do.

In conclusion, compassion is something that is learned through experiencing hardship and difficulty and is something that isn’t granted in a flash. It’s gained by having an appreciation for the suffering and troubles that others face in a world that produces suffering. Compassion doesn’t just come in a flash, it comes in the degree that you yourself have experienced suffering or similar kinds of suffering and can attest to the discomfort and difficulty that this suffering brings and then when that kind of suffering is inflicted on another person you have an affinity for that suffering on another person and can relate and appreciate that suffering on that other person and thus are in a position to give compassion to that individual because you can see the human behind the suffering and have firsthand experience with that kind of suffering.

[1] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/compassion