Humanity seems to be divided between two divergent perspectives…I had to work and suffer my way through it, and so should you… OR… Since I worked and suffered my way through it, I’ll work, help or share with you to make certain that you do not.
Humanity seems to be divided between two divergent perspectives…I had to work and suffer my way through it, and so should you… OR… Since I worked and suffered my way through it, I’ll work, help or share with you to make certain that you do not.
You are most certainly going to find yourself in one of two camps. As your life progresses and you have prevailed over tough times, hard circumstances and difficult issues, you mature and evolve through the process. That is a natural occurrence.
Far more interesting (to me) is whom you become through having traversed such difficult terrain.
Wayne Dyer commented, “As you turn 60, you discover an ever more pressing need to give back to others.” He was most certainly in the second camp of thought.
In our formative years, we see rituals that reinforce the first camp. These come through hazing processes to enter a fraternity, or as you are first starting a new job, being put on the hardest shifts and hardest tasks.
It strikes me that the first camp has a feeling of bitter triumph for having survived whatever the subject of discussion is, whereas the second camp, emerges from the same survival as the first, but finds a compassion in their heart to help others from having to needlessly suffer when they can provide solutions to prevent that from happening.
Is this really a case of others not having compassion, or harboring a certain sadistic nature of enjoying watching another have to go through the needless pain of a circumstance ? And if so, what is the root of such a thought process? Was there no one in their world providing some TLC and compassion in their formative years, so they are clearly and plainly missing one of life’s greater treasures?
We are a specie that thrives on companionship, as most herd species do. We seek the comfort of others through proximal relationships that deliver specific values that we rank as important in our lives. This gives way to special interest groups and unique friendships in which we share commonality with others in ways that build such a bond. These friendships help us to develop a desire to continue to be in touch with the other, pulling our greater joys from such a dynamic. In such a friendship, we watch out for one another. But when we are complete strangers, we are considerably less prone to acting with the same degree of camaraderie. Instead we remain more aloof, and perhaps, in that detached state of being, we are more willing to allow another person to needlessly suffer.
Perhaps one of the greatest treasures in life is the opportunity to find that same degree of commonality with a complete stranger, and to impart the same kindness and compassion towards them, as we might to someone with whom we have grown close.
Happy Labor Day!
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