Norman Vincent Peale Quote:

Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that.

– Norman Vincent Peale

Life is a very tricky affair isn’t it? It has so many things to offer – excitement and aspirations, love and affection, care and consideration and the compassion to our fellow human beings. I believe that sometimes compassion is an overused word which has kinda lost its sheen along the way.

Compassion meaning

 What is the meaning of compassion? The dictionary clearly says that it is about feeling for the other person, trying to be in their shoes and maybe find a way to help them out. And compassion is sometimes pretty hard because we all have our own challenges in life and trying to solve them. Sometimes people call it sympathy and some other times people call it empathy.

However, for us, definitions have never really mattered. We are looking at those simple actions which elevate the standard and quality of our lives. And that is all we are going to do today as well.

Why should you/I be compassionate?

 As always, we have a huge respect for the questions and the above one is pretty natural isn’t it? Why should I be compassionate? What do I gain from it? Before we answer any of these, there are 10 rules of compassion you must be aware of and you can find them here. 

The ideal answers will tell you about humanity, fraternity, touching base with the humane side of yours. But let us tone it a bit lower and look at it in a practical view point. Being compassionate truly means that understanding that the other person will have challenges similar to yours and sometimes bigger than yours.

• Being compassionate tells you that your problems are not the biggest in the world and you can help others through their troubles and in the end help yourselves cos you have a better outlook of life.
• Being compassionate also means that you are able to look at life beyond your self imposed walls and started looking at the bigger picture in life.
• Being compassionate also tells you that what you are facing is no big deal. Sometimes we just need to realize that our problems are really much smaller than they appear and we can always find a way around them. We just have to be receptive enough.

And granted – being compassionate also brings out the humane aspect of you and if you help someone they might help you in the future. But that is far from the point we are trying to drive here. Some help in the future is not real, it is not now, so I cannot really comprehend that. But being compassionate and trying to help someone makes me feel more connected to people and connected to life.

This is my rationale for being a bit compassionate and I am sure you have your own and I would love to hear them below. But then, we don’t just need a rationale, we just need to be there.

Compassion is not money

It is such a farce that money has taken the centre stage with every little aspect in life. Granted that money makes our lives easier, but money is just an aspect. People happily seem to think that philanthropy or being human simply means that they will offer a certain amount of money to charity and their job is done. Truth be told, the job is far from done. There is so much more to life and compassion than money.

If you or I are looking at money as the single solution to all our problems, then we are grossly mistaken. Sometimes all people need is a bit of companionship and a bit of care. That is all, not that stupid money.

And like Vincent Peale says, empty pocket doesn’t drive people away. There are ways we can be of help to people, not cos that is the only thing they want and your help will solve all their problems. But because helping them out brings out a side of you which you would love to cherish and sometimes even feel proud of it!

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