Compassion is defined as a strong feeling of sympathy for people who are suffering and a desire to help them. Kindness represents the quality of caring about others and helping them. It is commonly considered that kindness is more practical than compassion, which is more like empathy, but I consider that these two concepts are more or less inseparable, because a compassionate person is usually kind.
The contemporary society, as we all know, is facing plenty of problems due to the grid and selfishness of most of the people. There is a huge gap between rich and poor, the climate changes are obvious and most of us are neglecting them, carrying on the same bad lifestyle. The division within the global society is increasing due to some secondary reasons: religion, race or ethnicity. People are neglecting not only their fellows but also nature.
I think that all these major problems could be solved or diminished applying compassion and kindness in our daily life and by developing a sense of carrying for our MOTHER – the EARTH. So, our kind and compassionate attitude should target both our human fellows and nature. If we meet a person in need, we should try to help her/him unconditionally as much as we can, the feeling of helping another person is the greatest. This is not a religious matter, but a human feature. Some researchers reported that compassion and kindness were crucial for a healthy mind and body, they helped to lower the blood pressure, to avoid anxiety and to improve the wellness. On the other hand, compassion towards our planet should materialize in ecological actions. In their daily life, people should think twice when they overuse electricity spending too much time in front of the TV or keeping the light turned on for a long time, when they throw garbage everywhere or when they drive cars that produce too much CO2. A good measure is to protect plants and animals as well because they have an important role in the balance of the environment.
We all have to make efforts to reduce grid and selfishness and to increase compassion and kindness for our and others’ benefit. In order to do that, we must see the entire human society as a big family and we also must realize that we are basically all the same: mentally, physically and emotionally. So, compassion and kindness could be the key to a better society and a healthy planet.
Marinică Tiberiu Șchiopu, Romania
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