Compassion is Key Revisited

Looking back on what I wrote, I still cannot express enough how important showing compassion is for others. Keeping this in mind, one thing I can reflect on is how difficult it can be to be truly compassionate. Compassion is based on empathy. It is focused on how you can show empathy by being considerate of another’s life circumstances. It’s not always easy to put yourself in the shoes of someone else and can be harder to know what they actually need.

I know I spoke about the importance of always being understanding or encouraging and being careful not to be negative or critical. The truth is, it’s really difficult at times to actually be understanding. One thing I have noticed is we as individuals have our own thoughts and perspectives about what helping someone or being empathetic towards them actually means. I also have noticed these perspectives are often wrong and centered on those personal perspectives regardless of what may be best for the other person. Really what I have seen and been guilty of myself is a self-righteous attitude of “I am here to help you and I will provide help in any way I deem fit and you must be grateful”. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Empathy is grounded in altruism, so actually doing what is best for others and being selfless. It is not really being selfless if you expect praise or are not ACTUALLY doing what is best for others right?

After seeing this and actually behaving like this I recognized that one of, if not the most important part about being compassionate is actually LISTENING. If you are offering to help someone or be supportive of them it is probably a good idea to hear directly from them what they want or how they need to be supported. It actually makes it easier to be compassionate…

In the reflection of the importance of compassion, I will say this: Communication and active listening are the foundation of compassion. It all starts there.