Power of Empathy and Compassion: How They Change Your Life and the World — Part-1

Here’s a true story of a boy named Raj (name changed for privacy purposes!).

Raj was walking home from school when he saw a wallet lying on the sidewalk.

He picked it up and opened it.

There was a driver’s license, a credit card, some cash and a photo of a family.

Coincidentally, Raj recognized the man in the photo as Mr. Sharma.

Mr. Sharma is Raj’s neighbor and the owner of the grocery store near his house.

Raj started to wonder what he should do.

In two-minds, he thought he could keep the wallet and use the money to buy something he wanted.

On second, he thought he could return the wallet to Mr. Sharma.

But somewhere deep down his heart, he was looking for recognition and was worried that he might not get a reward or even a thank you note from Mr. Sharma.

Conflicting thoughts and Raj put the wallet in his pocket and starts to walk towards his home.

And suddenly he remembered that his father too had lost his wallet once. Raj recollected how worried and upset his father was when he lost his wallet.

At the same time, Raj also remembered that Mr. Sharma had given him a free candy once when he didn’t have enough money to buy one.

Raj sat at one of the benches on the side road and started to think what he should do. Should he keep the wallet with himself or return it?

And finally, Raj decided to return the wallet to Mr. Sharma.

So, he walked to the grocery store and found Mr. Sharma sitting. He handed him the wallet and said, “I found this on the sidewalk. I think it belongs to you?”

Mr. Sharma looked at the wallet and his eyes widened. He started to check the contents and sighed with a big relief.

He smiled at Raj and said, “Thank you so much, young man. You have no idea how much this means to me. I was looking for this wallet everywhere. I must have dropped it on my way to the bank. You have saved me a lot of trouble and money. How can I ever repay you?”

Raj was speechless for a moment. He never expected that this one small thing could have really made someone’s day. He did not know what to respond but he felt a warm feeling in his chest.

And after a brief silence, Raj said, “You don’t have to repay me, sir. I’m just glad I could help.”

Mr. Sharma said, “You are a very kind and honest boy. I’m very proud of you. Please, take this as a token of my gratitude.” While saying so, Mr. Sharma hugged Raj and handed him a hundred rupee note and a candy bar.

Raj thanked Mr. Sharma and left. He felt really happy from within.

He was equally proud of himself that he had done the right thing and made someone else happy.

And this episode in his life made him realize that empathy and compassion are more valuable than money or other material things in life.

The moral of the story: Empathy and compassion are the ability to understand and care for others. They make us and others happier and better!

So, how do you feel about this story?

Have you seen such episodes in your life?

Some would have run away with the wallet, or some would have been kind enough to hand it back to you like Raj.

If this story moved you even a little bit, share your experiences in comments. And drop in your claps or highlight your particular sentiment in this post if this story resonated with you.

Empathy and Compassion are often misunderstood by a lot of people.

And when people do not understand these highly important traits themselves, they do not follow it in their lives too.

So, here is my attempt to share with you some knowledge around this important topic which distinguishes us humans from other living creatures!

This post is Part-1 of this series. Stay with me for the next couple parts.

See you soon!

And until then, Feel and heal together! :)