Compassion, the fuel to humanity

Compassion is...the most basic and yet the most significant element that differentiates humans from other beings. It is an inherent quality that allow us to feel empathy towards other humans and living beings, to be able to share the sufferings of others and to want to relieve them.

A few days back, pixie girl told me that her pet hermit crab, Sebastian, died. She cried trying to coax the already dead crab, back to life. It may be a small thing but most of the times it is the small things that tell you more about a person than anything else.

It triggered a memory when i was about 10 or 11 years old. I found a baby bird that was lying on the ground in front of our porch. It must have fallen off the roof (we usually have birds nesting on our roof). So i picked it carefully as it was very fragile. My mom said it needed a nest to keep warm, being a nestling. So i made substitute nest as natural as possible from dried grass and crushed dried leafs. I fed it soft rice and water and it was okay.

Unfortunately that same day, some visitors dropped in. They advised that we feed the baby bird with milk. Being young and stupid, i followed their advised. Needless to say, the next morning i found the bird stiff and lifeless! I cried and cried as i prepared to bury the bird. A part of me was torn from guilt that i killed a harmless bird, another part angry at those visitors who gave the wrong advise (i later found out that milk is the most hazardous form of feed for baby birds). Then there was a part of me that cried for the life lost, a life that had barely even started.

After that, i decided that i will not have any more pets. I refused to hold a life that may be harmed by my own hands! And i did live up to that dictate until a couple of years later when a snow white puppy landed himself at our house. It was an adorable, big doe-eyed puppy who was lost. So we took him in.

I find that compassion is an intangible emotion that is necessary in every human being. It is not just about being compassionate towards animals. That compassion must also extend to fellow human beings, to their plights and sufferings. That is why tragedies usually bring people together most often that not.