Compassion - The Missing Element (Part 2)

In my previous post, I shared - no, vented out - why I think the world lacks human compassion, and why it needs a lot more of it. The trouble is, simply identifying problems and venting out about them doesn't help, at ALL!

Because we cannot accept things as they are - as the worst they could possibly get - and thus begin to take a pessimistic outlook on life, and even more so on people. But the good thing is - there is always something that we can change - in spite of how small and insignificant it seems. And that is not just alright, it is the best part - because everything big once started small.

Here are a few things all of us can do to add our own drop to the ocean. (Every drop in the ocean counts, remember?)

1. Imagining…

Imagination is, literally, the power to create things out of nothing! Imagining something in all its vividness helps us create the idea in our minds, and then shape our realities according to it. Once we do that, we realize that there is a gap between our existing reality and the one we are aspiring to. This helps us identify the missing links, the parts where we need to do the work.

Imagining also makes doing the actual task easier. It is like doing the task the first time in our heads, and then repeating it in actuality, rather than attempting it for the very first time in real! It helps reduce the friction that comes with starting new things for the first time.

2. Accepting!

Once we imagine a reality in which compassion co-exists with everything else deemed important in this world, there comes acceptance - acceptance of the fact that despite the best of intentions, we are all capable of causing hurt, and not only receiving it - something that we all so like to believe! There is also the acceptance of the fact that no matter how hard we try, there will always be something more left to be done.

3. Practising Empathy

To empathize with people is to put ourselves in their shoes, seeking to understand things sincerely from their perspective. Doing so can help us feel compassion for even people who seem the worst possible kind at their first impression! Bad people don't turn bad without reasons! (I'm not justifying them at all, just saying there is a reason for everything.)

Besides, pointing fingers at a wrongdoer is hardly the best way to help them change. I believe it is only with compassion and acceptance that we can really help create change.

4. Giving the Benefit of Doubt

When people make mistakes, they don't always mean it. Even when mistakes happen with ourselves, we want people to understand that it was just that - a mistake, and we never wish that our personality and credibility be judged for the rest of our lives on such a momentary, humanly, breach of strength. Why not do the same for others?

“The greatest trespasser on justice still wishes it done to him.”

- Edward Counsel

5. Taking People’s Perspectives

Talking to people - genuinely listening to them, and trying to understand their perspectives - gives us the necessary element to look beyond ourselves. I don't think there's any better possible way to do so. It humbles us, and most of all, reminds us that there's an infinite number of possible ways to look at situations, and the world at large, so that there's nothing completely right or wrong - just different perspectives!

Note: A version of this story was originally published on my personal blog, and also on Medium.