So there is a Greek myth about a Titan named Atlas. Atlas is condemned by the Greek god, Zeus, to carry the whole sky on his shoulders. No one is allowed to help him. It’s just Atlas and the weight of the world. I imagine that must be what a lot of us may feel like at times. We don’t want to let people know that we are struggling with something. No matter how big or how small. We don’t want to burden anyone with our struggles. We don’t want people to see our brokenness. So we continue to hold the sky up by ourselves, even when we’re about to crumble. I’ve lived pretty much my whole entire life by this concept. I refused to accept help from other people. I never believed that I was worthy of compassion. I never wanted anyone to see that I was struggling with something – in this case, my anxiety and lack of self-confidence.
However, as I’ve gotten older, I have realized that people need people. As humans, we are constantly seeking human interaction because that is how we were made: to give love, and receive it in return. I have also learned that compassion isn’t just huge gestures, it’s in the little things too. It’s in the way my roommate will always order cookies for us to split when I’m having a bad day. It’s in the way one of my co-workers will leave me a funny note on my laptop when I’m not looking to cheer me up. It’s in the way my friends will sit me with for hours after a hard day – they don’t try to fix anything. They simply sit in the darkness with me until I’m ready.
From these experiences, I have learned that compassion isn’t just a word. It’s an action. A feeling. It’s a true sense of being there for someone. Compassion isn’t FIXING someone’s problems or their pain…compassion is simply being there for someone in their darkest moments. In their suffering and their brokenness. But it’s also…being there for someone on their good days too. It’s sharing in the joy of other people when something good happens to them.
Compassion brings people together. Mother Teresa once said, “the problem with the world is that we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” We all need each other. It’s not you versus the world, even if it may feel like it sometimes. It’s not me versus the world. It’s US with the world. We all have struggles, hopes, and dreams. It’s telling someone, “hey I got you” or simply offering someone a hand when they reach out for it. You don’t have to fix it, you don’t have to understand it, you just have to be there for someone.