Compassion in Action

What does compassion look like in action?

It almost always requires sacrifice. The giving up of something—time, comfort, pride, convenience. It asks you to set aside your own feelings or circumstances in service of another.

Compassion is the giving of self through mindful, intentional behavior.
It is choosing another person’s interest over your own.
It is offering time when you are busy, attention when you are distracted, patience when you are tired.
It is the consideration of another’s emotional reality—even when it costs you.

Love and kindness are ingredients within compassion—but compassion is not passive, nor is it merely emotional softness.

It is strength directed outward.
It is empathy expressed through action.

To practice compassion at a deeper level, you must move beyond feeling and into doing. Ask not only what do I feel, but what am I willing to give?

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” — Mark Twain