So, once I went to San Francisco with my mom and dad. And, we got on a cable car, it was super crowded that day. So, luckily there was only one seat left for me on the other end of the car and I sat in the seat. After a while, an old lady, when I mean old I mean a very old lady got on the cable car. She was searching for a seat, turning her old wrinkled face to the right and left to just see that the seats were already occupied. She shouldered her way through and reached the other end of the car, at last finding that there were no seats left for her to sit in. She slowly reached up for one of the handrails and sighed. The cable car jerked and halted to a stop. The old lady gently let go of the handrail and reached down for her knee and stroked it, and moaned quietly. I thought for a moment and I decided to give up my seat for the very old lady. She thanked me and she sat in the seat. And to me, it felt really good that I helped her.

So that led to me believing that compassion, that's what I did in this instance is very important to humanity. Well, many of you might know that the sad reality of humanity is that the vast majority of people turn a blind eye to the sufferings of others. But, there are only a few people who have the desire to help and do it. So, why is compassion so crucial to humanity? Like seriously, why? Well, without any compassion, we would perhaps continually witness the hateful and brutal deeds of the Holocaust. Compassion promotes meaningful connections and prompts problem-solving. Guild Services says, “Compassion, at its core, is about putting aside the judgment and refusing to turn away from challenging situations.”

So what does it mean to have compassion? Well to narrow it down to a solid point, it has two factors, first compassion means to put yourself in another person’s shoes, and ask yourself these questions:

What if I were that person, and how would I feel?
Now, the second factor, once you have an awareness of the suffering, you must respond appropriately. You can help them in small ways that can alleviate his/her suffering. Often what people need is simply someone who will listen to them with kindness and without judgment. If you don’t know how to help the other person, just ask them how you can help and offer your kindness. 

Well, what about animals, insects, plants, or trees? Should you show compassion to them also? Well, yes of course! They are also living beings just like humans, their inability to talk to us just differentiates them from us. 

Well, since plants and animals can’t talk to us, you could show compassion to them by identifying their suffering and finding a way to help them. For example, if your pet dog is hungry, don’t let him/her starve to death! A way to help is to feed them with food. Or if your plants are withering, then a way to help would be to simply water them. You could show compassion to them by just not troubling them if they are in your way. Another way to show compassion to human beings and to also other living beings is to simply treat them with the same respect you would want to be treated with. 

According to Paul Ekman Group, there are several types of compassion:

Familial compassion, compassion we have for a family member.
Familiar compassion, compassion for people such as friends.
Stranger compassion, compassion as you would guess for people who we don’t know, this kind varies in the scope of those towards whom it is felt.
Sentient (pron. like Sincent)  being compassion, compassion towards all living beings (not just humans). It could be towards dogs, cats, birds, and even trees.

My point of view is that you shouldn’t just show compassion towards family, or just towards friends, or just towards strangers. You should show compassion to every human being and even to animals, insects, plants, and trees. 

Whether or not you practically helped people or living beings, or you just listened to others’ sufferings, it always feels so good to just be there to help or listen.