Compassion is one of the most necessary human values today, as superficial values rule the world. This causes all kinds of abuses and injustices, from the high hierarchies of power towards the citizens and even, unfortunately, on a daily basis between close people.
In the following Psychology-Online article we are going to develop what is compassion and how to develop it. Discover the great importance of being compassionate in our societies. Compassion is a fundamental tool for social healing, prevention of future negligence and laying the foundations for cordial, peaceful and united societies, in which the common good is the main guide of the road.
Index
- what is compassion
- benefits of compassion
- How to be a compassionate person (include exercises with examples)
What is compassion.
The value of compassion is the human being's ability to share the pain of his neighbor. When we are compassionate, we can enter into the suffering of our loved one and share their pain. In other words, it is an act of love through which we relieve the person of their suffering and strengthen them by endowing them with faith and trust that the pain will, at some point, stop.
Specifically, compassion is one of the most necessary social human values to develop in people if we want to live in societies where there are cordial, fair and supportive relationships, where there is no no room for exploitation, usurpation, abuse and, in its most dehumanized version, wars between peoples and civilizations.
To better understand how human values are classified, we recommend you read this article on value types with examples of them.
Benefits of compassion.
The benefits of compassion they are innumerable and they are closely related to the achievement, so sought after today, of states of personal and social well-being. Next, we will show you what its benefits are, both for compassionate people and for people who receive compassion.
Benefits of being a compassionate person
When a person is compassionate, it brings him the following benefits:
- Good deeds are returned to him with joy.
- feel satisfaction and personal strength.
- Receive thanks from the people you help.
- The heart of the compassionate person grows and increases your ability to love and take care of his neighbors.
Benefits of receiving help from a compassionate person
The subject who suffers and receives compassion from another person enjoys the following favors:
- great inner relief: you feel that you are not alone on the road.
- feeling of togetherness with the other.
- Faith and trust in life: You understand that, although what you are experiencing hurts, you are not alone and that, together with the person (or people) who accompany you, you will overcome the problem and come out happily strengthened.
- Self-regulation: compassion allows the person affected by the problem or pain to self-regulate, thanks to the accompaniment received by the compassionate person. When one suffers and is not accompanied, the fight against pain becomes harder because there is an internal fight. In it, the person can end up fainting, due to exhaustion and the difficulty of overcoming the situation experienced.
- impulse force: the person can confront more strongly the attacks produced by the unpleasant situation he is experiencing.
- Be more empathic: the individual who receives compassion opens his heart and becomes someone more kind, confident, with great joy and strength. This leads him to be much more empathic and compassionate with others. If you want to know more, in this article, we tell you how to practice empathy in my life.
How to be a compassionate person (include exercises with examples)
As we have commented in the first paragraphs, educating in compassion is an essential social act if we want to return to today's societies the universal human values that are so absent today day.
When in doubt about how to be a compassionate person, first of all it is important to do deep personal work to recognize that each person has negative and positive traits. Then you have to do a personal cleaning job to eliminate everything negative that harms us and causes us to harm others. The ultimate goal is to enhance everything positive to deliver it to the world.
Some acts that can help us in this work of developing compassion are:
- Reflect on my own positive and negative aspects: see how they influence our lives and our state of mind and see what strategies we use to overcome negative states. This self-analysis will allow us to understand other people, understanding that they go through situations similar to ours, and to properly accompany them in painful moments.
- Observing how the people around us act: avoiding any negative judgment and striving to develop a maternal and kind gaze.
- Prioritize the needs of others about ours.
- apologize sincerely when we make any mistake and get ready not to repeat it again. This act will allow us to be compassionate when someone else makes the mistake. In this article you will find more information about what is forgiveness and how to apply it.
- Try to help anyone who needs helpno matter how small the gesture.
These actions, among many others, will help us develop compassion, an important human value that will favor our personal maturation.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to What is compassion and how to develop it, we recommend that you enter our category of Personal growth and self-help.
Bibliography
- García-Campayo, J., & Demarzo, M. (2015). Mindfulness and compassion. the new revolution. Barcelona: Siglantana.
- Lama, D., & Hill, T. (2004). the art of compassion. Lithograph Roses.
