Blogs on Compassionate Societies

A world-wide conversation on compassion

Apr 02

Compassionate Words

Caitlin Hurley Posted by: Caitlin Hurley in Featured Blogs Print 
Tagged in: words , warmth , tolerance , Love , kindness , innate , humanity , every day lives , compassion , care
mmw_compassion0430When thinking of Compassion, what comes to mind? In "Compassionate Societies" case, it is the ending of suffering worldwide. But how can just one person make a difference in this world? By changing and affecting those around them with small acts of compassion that can be demonstrated in their every day lives. The act of 'compassion' does not necessarily have to be a large, quantitative lump some of money or even donating time.

Compassion can be formed and individualized within a person, making their personal definition unique and special to them. To me compassion is not solely about tangible acts but how you speak, how you think about things and the manner in which you choose to conduct yourself.·

There are a number of other words to describe all encompassing compassion.·I believe there should be a list of words that can be associated with compassion that have a more innate or intrinsic value than anything that can be measured and analyzed. Think about these words and what they mean to you or how you can incorporate them into your lifestyle: "sympathy, empathy, pity, fellow feeling, care, concern, solicitude, sensitivity, warmth, love, tenderness, mercy, leniency, tolerance, kindness, humanity and charity."·

For an alternate list of words, read the table at the end of the article on this website called "Ingredients of Personal Compassion." Here are some words from the table of ingredients: empathy, attentiveness, kindness,·respect, helpful, generosity, forgiveness, peacefulness, tranquility, integrity, trustworthy, responsibility, tolerance, nonjudgmental, grateful, wisdom, perceptive.

Notice the similarity and overall between my words and the article's words. You will no doubt find overlaps between these lists and your own list of words to describe the essence of how you want to think about and apply compassion to your own life.

The more you think about compassion, the easier it is to think of compassion as not just feelings, thoughts or words, but a mindset, a way of life, a personal and social value, and even a philosophy of life.
Trackback(0)
Comments (1)Add Comment
Clarissa Eads
...
written by Clarissa Eads, April 07, 2011
Very sweet Caitlin,

Thank you for sharing. I think I would agree with most of your words except for perhaps "pity." People seem to feel offended by the idea of someone taking pity on them but not as much by someone having compassion for them.
Just a thought.
Thanks for providing some compassionate words to consider.

Write comment
smaller | bigger

security code
Write the displayed characters


busy

Best Sites & Books

Our suggested
compassion-related websites

Our recommendations for the
100 best books on compassion

Compassion News

The ground-breaking Charter for Compassion celebrated its anniversary November 2010 with a 2-hour TED-prize presentation at the UN.
           Karen Armstrong, chief architect of the Charter for Compassion, on Sept. 11, 2010 posted a great article on Compassion and anti-Muslim sentiments on the 10-year anniversary of 9/11.
           Over 60,000 people, plus organizations around the world such as the Presbyterian Church, have endorsed the Charter for Compassion.

Popular Site Articles


compassionv2.jpg
Several basic ingredients are essential to sustaining a compassion-filled life.
Read more
Hits 644
helpinoldermanphotoshorter.jpg
When shown the word pairing, "compassionate politics," most people seem puzzled or they give a
Read more
Hits 386
img11.png
Suffering in Statistical Bullet Points (Source) Poverty is projected to peak in 2013 at 14% of
Read more
Hits 361
world_map_sq_w_20_resize.jpg
For an introduction and overview of the Good Society Index, open and view the (PDF) slide show by
Read more
Hits 329
elevenwellgaising_resize.jpg
Three marketing students from Lake Constance, Germany decided to break some rules of business by
Read more
Hits 313
"The Charter for Compassion is a summons to action, not just a feel-good thing," British scholar more
Hits 248
After 25 years of police and criminal justice work, Cheri Maples co-founded the Center for more
Hits 233
Practicing Compassion by Ani Pema Chodron (Editor's Note: this essay is condensed, with more
Hits 232
After 25 years of police and criminal justice work, Cheri Maples co-founded the Center for more
Hits 228
Robert Putnam defined the social capital as the "collective value of all social networks and the more
Hits 219

Latest Blog Comments