@bright.ton42 wrote:
I think some confuse compassion with pity. To me compassion is trying to walk a while in the other person's shoes, seeing how it feels, maybe trying to help if possible withot being patronising, while pity can be patronising . A fine line between really.
Pity is a state where the party showing pity is in a dominant, more powerfull position than the recipient of the pity. Compassion is one person wishing to understand and help another person of equel status, but with one party in difficult circumstances. This is often on the understanding that it may only take a chance incident or decision for roles to be reversed. ie. The person showing compassion could easily be the recipient of compassion in a different set of circumstances.
Life can change in a second. You can be cruising along nicely, earning a good income, happy family, nice house etc. Then along comes a drunk driver or a stroke or a workplace accident. Maybe it is a loved one affected or a young child. In that instant you can go from the giver of compassion to the reciever.
Sorry for being so deep on a Friday night, but I have been the recipient of others compassion. It can be an incredibly, deeply moving experience when people you dont even know offer to give up their time and money to help. When hundreds of people assemble in one place, just trying to offer some help and moral support in difficult circumstances. A communal outpouring of people who just want to be there for you. Real compassion is one of the most powerfull and instinctive of human emotions.
3BrNBBRz4UYdo+!~~60_7.JPG "chameleon54"){kind=avatar}
