Compassion
“Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle” – Plato
How many people will we meet today? How much do we really know about them? Seriously, even the ones we meet a lot through work or other frequent encounters.
In reality we often know very little about the people we meet (or simply cross paths with during all our activities in a day), even those we meet frequently.
When we get to the cashiers line waiting and the cashier is grumpy and a bit impolite, we often get frustrated and impatient. But….. have we stopped to consider that he/she might have a very sick family member at home and the last place they feel like being is here serving us.
Another parent I meet very regularly has spoken of her frustration in the waiting room of the emergency department of the hospital, she sees parents with children who in her opinion have minor ailments that could be readily treated by a local general practioner rather than a hospital emergency room.
We have discussed this, and discussed the fact that in comparison to her problems with her severely disabled child it they may appear to have a minor issue, but for those parents it may be the most severe illness that their child has had and so for them it is a difficult time that they may not know how to handle.
We need to remember that EVERYONE has a story (even if they don’t share it, or you may never get to hear it or know of it), and at anytime the person that you are dealing with may have a personal, work, family problem that is consuming most of their energy.
So Plato’s words are a reminder to meet everyone with compassion, because we do not know what battles they may be fighting.
Will you treat everyone you meet with compassion?
Creative Commons image in this post by Adam Arthur
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Unless we detach ourselves from our own selfishness, we will be able to express our compassion to others.
Thanks Walter, letting go is a big part of this…. we need to let go of our own baggage a bit, to acknowledge with compassion what the other person may be carrying…
The cashier part strikes a chord, I was a cashier for a few years and of course now days, at least in the USA it’s, the customer is always right. Well when your standing behind that line that may be what your programmed to believe, but you as a real individualist know that it’s not always true. People take advantage of this, but overall when it gets gritty, the point you make is viable, everyone has a story….nuff said…
Thanks Lee any policy is only as good as the people implementing it…. and if it doesn’t take into account reality then it’s not a good policy to start with…. no matter the policy remembering that everyone has a story at least gives you a place to look for commonality from.
Good point man, I always try and go by treat them as you would want to be treated, or nowadays how I would want my family treated
Thanks James, treating everyone the way you want your family treated is another great way of looking at “the golden rule”
I started practicing this mindset a few years ago and me outlook on life has change dramatically.
Everyone has their own stuff to deal with and when we realise that our interaction with them will be tainted by this we see that they aren’t naturally miserable or angry or sad
Great post!
So true Ben… In the last post I talked about getting to your core, and I think at everyones core they are calm and happy (it just gets smothered by all of the other things in life), if we can see that at the base level everyone wants to be happy just like us, and appreciate the baggage that they may be carrying we can make all of our relationships that little bit stronger.
Mick,
I agree; we so often jump to a response when we are confronted with an undesireable situation; rather than stopping to reflect on what might be. This is something I’m working on at the moment in my personal development.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Regards
Paul
Thanks Paul, we do often get consumed in our own little bubble, and remembering the “other” can help let the air out of it…….
I totally agree, most of us never stop to think about what another person may be feeling or thinking. Great stuff. Congrates
Exactly… compassion goes a long way and makes relationships (of all kinds) a lot smoother.