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The importance of compassion
Importance of empathy in society
Importance of empathy in society
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Compassion and empathy are important influences in our everyday life. It is especially true in a health care profession. A smile or a kindness gesture can go a long way and has a great impact on other people. Having been surrounded by a loving family with a strong and motivating support group all my life has allowed me to see the best in people. However, I am not naïve enough to believe that the world is comprised of solely good people. Growing up, my parents always tell me, “Treat others as you would like others to treat you.” I learned that one should help others not because of expecting reward or benefits in return, but it is the right thing to do. Treating others with kindness, no matter how big or small, can go a long way.
Norman Schwarzkopf Jr, a famous war soldier once said, "The truth of the matter is you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it." Although society has the potential to help others in need they restrict themselves from doing the right thing. But when society is challenged with a problem only some step up against to the odds to make a difference. Throughout history, during times of devastation and separation there are people that show a ray of light that gives people hope during the darkest times.
“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see” – Mark Twain.
Kindness can really make a difference in a person's attitude. In “A Christmas Carol”, the Cratchits and Scrooge's nephew Fred show kindness to Scrooge, even though Scrooge showed quite the opposite to them. Or in “Thank you M’am”, when Ms. Jones makes Roger food and gives him money to buy his shoes, instead of reporting him to the police. Even in “Little Things Are Big”, when Jesus decides to help people even if he has to face prejudism. These stories all show turning points, and these examples show
Everyday we see someone that needs help in the community or a friend, family, or even someone at your school. Some of our greatest leaders have told us that one small act of kindness can make the world a more enjoyable place. Martin Luther King was among one of those many leaders and has created the greatest change in our society’s history. Civilization cannot merely exist without the help of one another and our society would end if humanity decided to stop being kind or compassionate. Our professors and teachers give us the materials and assistance we all need in order to reach great measures in our future. Small acts of kindness have even inspired the most influential people and has led them to
Before deciphering what motivates people to help one another, it is vital for one to understand the significant differences between empathy and compassion so that one may draw inferences about their relationship. Firstly, empathy is more of an emotional response to a person’s situation. It is usually evoked by distressing circumstances. One may imagine himself in a similar situation developing in his mind the same emotions as the person he is feeling empathy for. Although he may feel the same emotion, he does not feel compelled to take action to alleviate the pain or suffering for the person he is feeling empathy for. Compassion, on the other hand, is an emotion that takes action. In other words, a person full of compassion is willing to provide another individual with comfort and relief to secure a positive outcome. It is apparent that while empathy and compass...
It could be as small as opening the door for someone who is not able to. It could be as huge as taking months of preparation and fundraising. We should all have compassion in our heart, understand another’s feelings or emotions. When I was shopping the other day, I saw a young lady helping an old man in a wheelchair to grab cereals from a shelf. She would gently describe all the boxes on the shelf. Then ask which one he would like. After the old man decided, the young lady grabbed the box and handed over to him. The old man took it over with his trembling hands, and he kept saying. "Thank you.” It was a heart-melting moment. She could have ignored the old man, but because of compassion. She lent a helping hand to him. We help elders to accomplish trivial things, such as opening the door and grabbing things they can’t reach. At the same time toddlers also treat other toddlers with compassion. When my four- year- old cousin’s friend wouldn’t stop crying because her dad was going on a business trip. My cousin tried to use a cookie to distract her attention, then she asked if she wants to play rock paper scissors. My cousin lost the game purposely just to make her friend feel happy. After a while, her friend stopped crying. My cousin’s heart was full of compassion towards her friend, she wants her friend to be happy. We should all have love and compassion for other
Altruism and empathy are words heard often, but very few know the true meaning of these words or how to display such qualities. It has been argued by philosophers, psychologist, sociologist and many others since seemingly the dawn of time what humankinds true nature is. Are we born with the innate inclination for good, for bad or somewhere in between? In On Kindness by Adam Phillips and Barbara Taylor they discuss the human capability for kindness and the different ways in which kindness has been displayed and interpreted over the years. Much of what their book discusses can be related to the stories shared by Rebecca Solnit in, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster. Though after reading these
Ralph Nader, an American political activist and author of Lebanese origin, once said “When strangers start acting like neighbors... communities are reinvigorated.” Thus is the opinion of a Utilitarian, one who believes that one should act according to whatever yields the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. According to a Utilitarian, this quote describes the essence of our obligations to strangers, or people we don’t naturally care about. It says that we must treat strangers in the same way we would treat a neighbor, family member, friend, or anybody else we care about. By treating strangers this way, it promotes and creates a universal caring for the needy and can cause communities to be rejuvenated. For this
In conclusion, there are many ways to create a better world of friendliness, and kindness but you need to be able to take that first step. We all need to open our eyes and see the greatness in each human being. Everyone has something special about them we just have to find it in
Reading is an important tool in language development in children. As they grow older and reach secondary school it evolves into looking deeper into the themes and motifs of the narratives studied. This maturation of concepts helps individuals identify complex ideas and possibly aid in developing empathy. According to Scientific American’s article Novel Finding: Reading Literary Fiction Improves Empathy (2013), researchers have found evidence that suggests that reading literary fiction may improve a reader’s ability to grasp what others think or feel. “...this may be the first empirical evidence linking literary and psychological theories of fiction” (Chiaet, 2013). The theory focuses on how
It is often overlooked how important small acts kindness improves someones' life as well as our community: Kindness takes the hard
Too often we underestimate the power of a kind word, the embrace of a hug, the warmth of a smile, the open-minded listening ear, a simple compliment, or a humble act of compassion. Too often we underestimate the potential we hold within us to turn a life around. Compassion is the ultimate expression of one’s highest self. Is compassion nearly as difficult as some portray? The compassionate heart is as natural as flowers blossoming on a warm and bright summer day. Compassion flows through our hearts exactly as the warmth of hot chocolate streaming through our bodies on a frosty winter night. That same warmth that is felt when drinking hot chocolate, is felt when compassion is radiated onto someone in need. Love and compassion play hand in hand, you do not possess one without the other. The compassionate heart is one filled with love, joy, passion, and grace; yet also comes with a price. Even though compassion comes with a price, compassion has the magic to heal sorrow.
Many parents teach their children to be kind and helpful to one another. This will educate their child to learn how to be proper in society. Further, the child will understand that it is important to have this quality so they can be treated with respect by society. Being kind and helpful is a significant quality that someone can have because society will view them as a respectable person. To clarify, society may like a person who seems kind, presentable, and caring as opposed to someone who is the opposite. Examples of helpfulness can be shown in the collection of profiles of activists, Do It Anyway, which includes stories of activists who show a way of helping others. Since being helpful is a good quality to have, everyone should be helpful
“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” Mother Teresa of Calcutta This quotation demonstrates the positive effects of speaking kindly. I agree with Mother Teresa that kind words are easily spoken and long-lasting. On March 14, 1933 I was wondering my path down the halls, when I dropped my books for my studies. All of the undergrads mocked me; the laughing went on for days. I was completely embarrassed; until, a girl from my biology class named Stacy made me feel profusely better with her kind words. She presented me that everyone messes up, and that is okay because nobody is perfect. Stacy’s compassionate words made my day. There had been an abundant of times afterwards when someone spoke kindly to