Compassion is our ability to understand the suffering of others and corresponds to a desire to alleviate and reduce that suffering. The concept of compassion is simpler and at the same time more intense than empathy. This feeling encourages us to want to help and alleviate, the suffering of others.
Self-compassion, on the other hand, leads us to an understanding attitude towards ourselves, especially when things don’t go according to plan. Learning to develop compassion can help us feel more happiness and satisfaction in our daily lives; without abusing or having to recreate your own life, of course.
- Psychologist and researcher Paul Gilbert.
- Creator of compassionate therapy.
- Stresses that feeling compassion does not mean feeling sorry for others.
- Is more of a motivation that gives us energy to help others.
- So that they can alleviate their own suffering with our help.
The word compassion literally means “suffering together?” or “handle emotions out of sympathy. “It is an emotion that appears when we perceive the suffering of others and it gives us an impetus to reduce that suffering. The emotion of compassion is divided into different components:
This emotion facilitates the connection with our hearts so that we can put ourselves in the shoes of others, this opens the door to our emotions, allowing us to feel that other people are experiencing what causes pain or suffering.
Compassion, when true, helps us stop looking at our navel and start looking up to see what’s going on around us; reminds us that we are not alone in this world, that other people are equally important. The offer is honest, it will give us a huge inner peace.
The act of compassion brings us closer to the other, offers us the opportunity to do our best to help others, with humility and affection, makes us more human, sensitive and honest with the people around us and certainly with ourselves. we care about someone who needs it, we like and offer sincere help.
Why not seize opportunities when we have so many? We don’t give ourselves the opportunity to act with compassion because we’re not focusing on the right place. Social neuroscience has shown that our natural drive is to help. We’re prepared to help, offer brain-level help. Then why don’t we help sometimes?
The emotion of compassion can make us fear acting for different reasons, for example:
“The fundamental human problem is a lack of compassion. As long as this problem persists, other problems will also continue to exist. If they are resolved, we can expect happier days. “-Dalai Lama-
Self-compassion is built when we perceive our inner suffering, we understand its meaning and we allow ourselves to accept it and give ourselves affection; it is a way of fostering a loving attitude toward ourselves when things don’t go according to plan.
“Be the change you want to see in the world. -Gandhi-
Compassion invites us to look at society as a force for transformation, from the inside out. Instead of being full of self-criticism and judgment, self-pity allows us to be benevolent and develop in us a loving adult who cares and protects himself every day. Suffering, instead of moving away from humanity, brings us together.
If we want to perceive the suffering of others and show self-pity, it will be necessary to learn to perceive suffering, all we need is to understand, or rather realize that we are not alone, that there are people who need help. In other words, look to one side. This implies that when we come into contact with the suffering of others, we can be overwhelmed by our emotions, this will be our second task, learning to manage the emotions that arise in us when we act guided by compassion.
Being aware of one’s own suffering and others is the first step in feeling compassion, so that we will have to open our hearts, so that we can come into contact with our emotions, for example, if we walk down the street and if we see someone suffer, we can stop for a moment so that we can perceive that suffering, rather than moving forward as if it had nothing to do with us.
It is important to practice research without judgment, otherwise compassion will not arise in us, nor will it appear if we have not gone through the previous stage of perpetrating suffering. For example, if we think the person deserves to suffer, compassion may not appear.
To open yourself to emotions is to let yourself be felt by all emotions, even if they sometimes cause suffering and a little discomfort. If we get carried away with compassion, we can connect with a sense of kindness.
For example, when we see information that affects us on television, we must allow ourselves to cry and not block the feeling that comes from it, so that we can feel freer when we feel compassion.
Once we can perceive the suffering of others, assess their severity and feel it uncensored, we must act so that the feeling is not preserved, for example, go to work trying to relieve the pain of our friend or family member and provide the much-needed Emotional Support.
There are many positive effects on society and ourselves when we can feel compassion. For the Dalai Lama, the power of compassion has the ability to:
If we include compassion in our lives, we will see significant changes. We can try to imagine a loved one who is suffering and see what effect this has on our body. Send this loved one feelings of kindness and compassion. See what changes this exercise, in ourselves. Then try to send good feelings to someone you don’t like and see what’s going on in your body.
Mindfulness or mindfulness helps us develop this compassion that we can then pass on to others. To develop compassion, we will need to create a mental space, as if it were our private consultation, in which we need to perceive the suffering of others in order to act. Thus, we will start by putting our grain of sand, helping to build a more just and generous world.
Change in society begins with better self-treatment, the practice of empathy and compassion with each of us and then with all of us, there is no excuse not to start today, the sooner we begin to feel compassion, more happiness and well-being. we can feel every day.