Compassion. A ten letter word that literally means “to suffer together,” it’s also defined as “the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering.” (“Compassion Definition | What Is Compassion.” ) Compassion, a word that people use to show their feeling of care towards others.

Compassion is sympathy. It’s the feeling of hurt for someone else. A sense of wanting to help someone. Maybe, it’s seeing someone walk past in the hallway with tears rolling down their face making someone else feel sad. Compassion isn’t passing someone having a bad day, just walking past, and not trying to help. It’s about feeling the sorrow someone else has faced and helping them. Compassion is growing a warm heart, a heart filled with love, not hate.

“All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart” (Mafi). I’ve always wanted to touch others with my heart and show them how much I care. I believe I’m meant to help others, which has given me a path to follow. Whether it’s helping someone with family problems or helping them get through a tough day at school. I always share my love to others by caring about them.

During my life there's been multiple times when I’ve felt the need to help others. Over seven hundred and thirty days ago, my mom was diagnosed with cancer. I felt much compassion towards her. I could feel the pain she felt with this shocking news. I tried my best to show strength through being supportive, giving my mom the love she needed. I reached my heart out to my mom and we faced this together with many people beside us. I helped her by holding her hand when getting off of the couch and asking her if she wanted me to cook her something to eat. I tried my best to help her feel better, and that was all I could do for her.

“Compassion is a muscle that gets stronger with use” (Gandhi). The more I’ve opened up to others, the more it has made me compassionate, and made it easier for me to help others. I’ve always felt a sense of hurt when I see others struggling. The more I use compassion in my life, the stronger I hurt when I see others in pain. I’ve always been one that has cared more about others than myself. I hurt when they hurt. It’s one of the worst feelings when I watch someone I care about hurting so bad. But I try to help them by showing compassion and love towards them, by staying beside them for as long as they need.

I lost my aunt over two years ago, and a part of myself was lost as well. The other part of me was very sad that my mom lost her sister, my cousins lost their aunt, and worst of all my grandparents lost a daughter. Not only did I feel pain, but I felt the hardship that me and my family would have to face. I felt blue while watching my grandma, Georgia, cope with the loss of her daughter; no mom should lose a daughter. I felt the need to be there for my family. It wasn’t a time that I felt compassion towards myself, but rather to have compassion and love towards my family. We all faced sorrow together and helped each other through a hard time.

This same feeling came when I watched one of my best friends lose her grandmother. I was devastated. I watched her eyes fill with pain for a long time. But I shared her pain and helped her through a really hard time. I invited her to my family Fourth of July. We swam, went out on the boat, and enjoyed fireworks. This was something I did for her, to help her through a hard time. My heart knew that I wanted her to feel better and I was going to be there for her. When I watched her talk about her grandmother at her funeral, I knew she was strong and that she would only become stronger from this.

Compassion is a valuable part of my personality. I’ve grown up with this and it has been spread around me. My family has always displayed compassion, and it has helped me develop this quality and learn from it. They’ve shown it to me at the beginning and the end. As a little kid when I’d fall and hurt myself, to the hard times I’ve faced during my teen years while struggling balancing everything in my life. But with this I’ve grown with compassion and it’s much stronger inside of me. I believe that everyone should learn to have compassion toward others. There are so many people around the world that hate others. People need to have a better understanding of what others are going through. When I see people struggling on the streets I feel compassion towards them. Not because of their poor choices, but because of where they were now in their life. I don’t like to see anyone struggle like that. That’s why I believe compassion should spread. It should be something that we all feel making our world an even better place to live in. No more judgement, just love and compassion.

Works Cited

“Compassion Definition | What Is Compassion.” Greater Good, greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/compassion/definition./. Accessed 28 October. 2018.

“7 Thoughts on Compassion.” Mind Fuel Daily, 21 Mar. 2017,

www.mindfueldaily.com/livewell/7-thoughts-on-compassion/.Accessed 28 October.

2018.

“25 Quotes to Warm Your Heart and Ignite Your Compassion.” Conscious Life News, 16 Oct.

2015,consciouslifenews.com/25-quotes-warm-heart-ignite-compassion/1199576/.

Accessed 29. October. 2018.