The Power of Compassion: The Secret Gift You Never Knew You Had
There is a place inside your heart where compassion lies, waiting to be manifested.
Its power is all-encompassing, never limited by race, culture, or creed. When awakened, it connects us to the most powerful aspect of our humanity — loving kindness.
It’s the gift we’ve had our entire lives.
The gift that keeps on giving.
However, the deep jungle of life can be a harrowing place. The thorny vines of our inner struggles bind us to the jungle floor. Our boots become soiled, muddied, and we may find ourselves lost inside the thick tangle of life.
Our feelings of compassion diminish.
How can we use this gift of ours if we are the ones suffering? Have we lost our way inside the jungle of life?
We find a torch and begin to traverse life’s complex path, all of its twists and turns, rights and wrongs. We eventually stumble upon a doorway in the center of the life’s jungle. We find a glistening signpost that reads:
— Beyond this doorway lies the power of a secret gift.
— It’s the secret gift you never knew you had.
— Herein lies The Power of Compassion.
The Doorway To Compassion
“911, what’s your emergency?”
I was in an ambulance. The lights and sirens were blaring as my partner sped through the congested streets of rush hour traffic. We were dispatched to a call— possible stroke patient.
I will never forget the patient’s eyes, a blank stare that reflected her oxygen-deprived brain. Confusion, shock, disbelief — her eyes said it all.
She tried to say something but I couldn’t understand. The stroke had slurred her speech. She reached for my hand, her soft, frail fingers intertwined with mine. I knew what she wanted at the moment. Her sorrowful eyes expressed her inner pain. I held her gaze and said,
Don’t you worry, ma’am. I am here with you.
I will do everything I can to take care of you.
She couldn’t let go of my hand and I couldn’t let go of hers. We sat there hand in hand all the way to the hospital.
My days as an Emergency Medical Technician taught me this — compassion is the feeling that empowers us to hold a stranger’s hand during their darkest moment in life.
I will never forget her eyes.
The Awakening of Compassion
It didn’t always take intense moments of suffering to awaken my inner compassion. I remember it arising during a seemingly random moment in my life, the crowded communal lunchroom at the casino I later worked for.
I was frozen in place. Time stood still in the lunchroom, fork suspended midair with strands of spaghetti swaying from side to side. Compassion arose with such intensity that I nearly dropped my fork. Spaghetti splatters would have spelled disaster all over my white dress shirt.
It first came as a realization. I saw the world was a crowded lunchroom and we were the students within it. I heard an inner whisper. It sounded calming, bearing the tone of a reassuring mentor. It said,
You are the students of the world.
Nourish your souls with the experience of life.
A good student knows that the labors of today become the fruit of tomorrow.
As I gazed around the lunchroom, I felt the miracle of life in each person I saw.
I realized that we aren’t so different after all. I saw myself in every person. A person with a story. It was a lunchroom full of stories, just like mine.
A story full of meaning, purpose, and the pursuit of happiness. It was a book written with memories and each paragraph was full of knowledge. Its chapters were titled love, pain, family, loss, and gain. It was the most magnificent story of all — The Story of Life.
After the awakening of compassion, I heard the inner voice again. It had the tone of a compassionate teacher offering a life lesson. It said:
“We Are All In This Together.”
Every person carries their own storybook. Every stranger you see, every person you pass by, every coworker in your lunchroom. Although our bookmarks may be at different chapters, we all hold a copy of the same book. The book titled The Story of Life.
After this experience, my life was forever changed. If there is one thing to take away from this, please take this:
Compassion is about recognizing the miracle of life in every person you see.
Practicing Compassion
So how do we use this secret gift of ours? How can we incorporate it into our everyday lives?
To me, we should see everybody as you we see ourselves. It’s about acknowledging the spirit of life in others.
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
A shoulder to cry on, an arm of support — to give compassion means to give yourself. This is how we use compassion. It’s the gift given from our hearts. The gift you cannot purchase or create. It’s the support we give others so that the pains of life aren’t shouldered alone.
“The best gifts in life are often free.”
Every time we help someone we do a good deed. The more good deeds we do in life, the better we become. The better we are, the more capable we are. Only the most capable people in society are the ones who can bring about real change. Lasting change is what turns this world around.
When we practice compassion, we practice our love for humanity. It’s something that people notice. This is how the world gets better. Compassion isn’t something outside of us. It’s our gift that lies within. It’s the gift we unconditionally share with others during their darkest and stormiest days.
It’s the secret gift you never knew you had.
