Compassion and Perspective

I honestly believe {though often forget} that people try to do their best with what they have been given. I think it would be foolish to assume people don't try to do their best. For example, I read this post on Facebook where a guy had emailed his professor to complain about something in the class. The professor replied he needed to be more humble, and then, when this professor came under a lot of heat, this person posted that the professor should have listened to him. It just felt mean. 

This may seem pointless and unimportant, but let's remember what these common words mean:

Compassion 

Mid-14^th Cent. From the Old French compassion, from the Latin compassionem (nom.compassio), “sympathy,” from compassus pp. of compati "to feel pity," from com- “together” + pati “to suffer.” Loan-translation of Greek sympatheia.

 Antonyms 
mercilessness, indifference.

{I love looking at antonyms, I feel it helps give a better perspective on what a word really means...}

Sympathy

Harmony of or agreement in feeling. As between persons or on the part of one person with respect to another. The fact or power of sharing the feelings of another, especially in sorrow or trouble; fellow feeling, compassion, or commiseration.

sympathies,

a. feelings or impulses of compassion.

b. feelings of favor, support, or loyalty

*dictionary.com, not the most prestigious but gives you a good idea

I believe that everyone could do with a little more humility. Even that professor, but especially the person posting. They could do with more compassion. Yes, the professor should not have done what he did, but who hasn't done something that later they realize was not right?

It is easy to stay in our own perspectives, to think we are always right {because, well, history has shown that I am always right...ha ha}. I know a few people in my life who, may not truly believe this, but they sure act like they are the only one with the right opinion. It would be incredibly easy for me {...has been incredibly easy} to assume they hate everything I find valuable, that they never look at another perspective, that they ignorantly don't care about what is important to me or others; if it doesn't agree with what they believe it is wrong.

So, I too, must take a step back. With the person who openly disagrees with everything, and seems like this person just hates the world, I need to remember that just because I don't know why they act like this, does not mean there isn't one.

Anyway, as I was thinking about this post, it became so important to me that we don't just look at our own perspective. With the professor I mentioned earlier, I have seen a lot of people mercilessly attack him. He may deserve it, I don't know. I just feel that maybe we need to take a step back and look at our anger's scapegoat and see if it is really deserved and if we are the ones to hand out justice and anger because of it. 

It just seems that anger and offense are running wild in our hearts, especially within politics and the media. People have opinions and that is great, it really truly is. People do foolish and/or awful things sometimes and justice is required. Just remember that mercy is as important as justice. No, we are not required to be best friends with everyone, but we are asked to forgive everyone and to love one another. 

Look past yourself when someone does something dumb. Look past your opinions when someone shares their opposing one, there has to be a reason they believe what they do. Maybe they are "wrong" and their reasons lack true support, but listen and allow them to think for themselves too.

If you remember from the beginning of this post, I made a comment about looking at antonyms. As I typed it, I did not really think too much about it, 'I love looking at antonyms' was pretty much as deep as I got. But, thinking about it, there is some depth to it that I did not initially intend. 

I used to be very set in my political views, I did not question the morality of the choices the group made and that was that. Then, a few years ago, I took a class where we were exposed to the opposite side and had to defend their position and actually think about their reasoning. Now, I have to admit my opinions did not really change; however, I learned something very valuable.

There is a reason there is another side in politics--and in life--there are good reasons and support that are easy to miss when you don't look. There is always another side, another perspective. And eventually, in order to move forward in life, we need to be able to look at those perspectives and put the pieces properly into place.

There is this tale about 6 Blind Men From India, which discusses the blind men's encounter with an elephant. They each felt a different part of the elephant, i.e., the ears, the trunk, the tail, and each came away with a completely different idea of what an elephant really is. 

I think we get like that sometimes, metaphorically blind to different ideas because we will not choose to see the whole "elephant." Remember that to others, your view is wrong. And. Maybe you are. Maybe your actions are dumb or if the media got a hold of what you say, a big controversy may arise. Probably not, but maybe. 

Just remember who people inherently are. We are children of God and we may do dumb things. No, this is not any new information, but put yourself in their place, and remember that you'd probably do or think the same thing. Don't take offense quite so easily next time you are tempted to. You don't try to offend people, to cause tension or hurt, you don't try to make the dumbest decision ever, you don't try to hold beliefs which are wrong or foolish. You try to be smart, to enjoy life, to have friends, and good opinions. Just, give that chance to someone else too.