This last year in the U.S. the need for people to feel compassion for others has been proven…
I’m not talking pity, or sympathy, or even empathy… but good, strong, life-altering compassion. Even for those of us who never even noticed the daily, systemic inequities, this year has blinded us with reasons to want to help others.
Compassion is that push inside to not just sit there and feel badly for those in need, but to actually want to get to work. The desire to want to see others’ lives improve. Taking self out of the equation and focusing on how to help others.
If a person living in the U.S. in the last year cannot hear the cry for compassion, that person must have an overflowing need for compassion in her/his own life. We have watched all the same things happen that have been happening for decades, but finally people are doing something about it and the need is not just being overshadowed by the next need. Our nation is screaming out in need of compassion…
As a parent, we want our children to climb to the top of Maslow’s triangular hierarchy, but can we teach this? Can we teach someone to care?
When my daughter was little, we raised money for those in need, gave to food drives, volunteered at community events, participated in walks for different causes, heck! she was a Girl Scout! Yet, now as a teen, I usually can’t get her out of bed on a Saturday morning to make it for our monthly food pantry help time. Where did I go wrong? Sure, you may think, “well, she’s a teen… she’s obviously just sleeping in on a Saturday.”, but this isn’t all of it. When I mention things like not buying clothing due to it being produced by child labor factories, she doesn’t understand what the problem is. If I could only go back… I’d instill a better sense of selflessness in her… ugh! But then she might be taken advantage of by peers or worse… Ok, let’s not go down that road. Parents do the best they can for their children with the information, means, and energy they have at the time.
I can say I like that volunteering is still something colleges, jobs, and the military look fondly upon when looking for a candidate. Although some schools and clubs mandate it in high school, that young man or woman is getting a chance to learn what it feels like to help others in need.
Sometimes the volunteering may be acknowledged and sometimes it won’t, but if those young adults can get a taste of the feeling one gets when being selflessly helpful, self-actualization could happen and maybe even become a part of their non-mandated lives. Then these humans may even move into the future and continue to carry out compassionate undertakings to calm those pleas for change.
– Beth H, NEW BOOK JOY Guest Contributor
Conversation
What experiences inspired YOU & your family to show compassion?
Let’s get a conversation started in the comments below!
