Last week, on the eve of Thanksgiving, four teenagers sexually assaulted a 45-year-old woman in front of her two children in Minneapolis's Powderhorn Park. The incident shocked people around the city and scared the neighborhood, but the mother made a statement that inspired the community and empowered us to believe in non-violence and restorative justice.  Her son responded similarly. The Minneapolis Star Tribune article on this remarkable story can be found at this link. The tragic incident was followed with several heart-warming letters to the editor. Below is one of those letters: 

I was staying at a guest house in India and I remember the morning vividly when a loud knock on my door woke me up. I found a young fragile man sitting beside a packed bag. With an exhausted face, the first thing he uttered was, “Please help me.” He and his wife, who looked even more fragile and sick, were told to vacant their room that morning by the guest house owner after knowing that both of them were HIV positive. The utensils they had used were kept aside by the owner to be discarded. With the help of my friends, we were able to generate enough money to admit the couple in the hospital and take care of their infant daughter. This heart-breaking incident triggered us to conceive a small non-profit NGO, called CHOICE in April 2007.

One of the most disheartening evolutions of Western society is the way we act towards elderly people—the people who are not only among the most vulnerable but often the most isolated in our society. Older people are often treated as if their “shelf-life” is over and that they are more a liability than an asset. But the million dollar point we are missing is how much their wisdom, experiences, and their attitudes are much more precious and effective than the little knowledge the younger generation has accumulated.

Developing a genuinely compassionate heart empowers us to transcend the daily experiences of dissatisfaction, frustration, self-pity, and other negativity. We liberate ourselves from the web of unlimited expectations that never can be fully satisfied. Compassion, if investigated properly and implemented positively, truly opens our heart and world to happiness.