If I had Cupid’s Arrow, I Would Spread Compassion
Happy Valentines Day!
This was originally written in response to a writing prompt in February 2023. However, I believe that in today’s world, compassion is needed now more than ever.
If I Had Cupid's Arrow, A Valentine's Day Writing Competition
Personally, I believe that compassion for others is one of the most deeply spiritual values that we can have. Compassion to me is loving-kindness.
According to Mindful,
Compassion is simply a kind, friendly presence in the face of what’s difficult. Its power is connecting us with what’s difficult — it offers us an approach that differs from the turning away that we usually do.
We begin with empathy — that feeling of connection. When we can acknowledge the commonality of the human condition, something beautiful happens: we diminish the subtle cruelty of indifference.
When we have compassion for others, we open our hearts to people who are struggling or suffering around the world. We share with them of ourselves, we help them in their struggles, offering a hand to hold or whatever else that we have to give.
If I had Cupid’s arrow, I would shoot it at the world so that people could have more compassion for each other for that one day.
Opening our hearts through compassion allows us to go one step further than empath, to offering help and healing to other people. The more compassion that we have the more that we can give to other people.
It involves opening our hearts through love, kindness and trust. The more we trust that goodness matters, that kindness wins, the more we are able to open up our hearts to other people and to give them this deep kind of love.
Compassion is about loving everyone the way that we love ourselves. It is about realizing that we are all a part of the essence of the love of the universe, and that when we spread universal love, we aren’t just helping that one person, we are helping to make the world better. We are raising the vibration of humanity.
The more people can practice compassion on a daily basis, the more we understand our common humanity. We all are part of one world community, and compassion is the balm that can help to heal the world’s hurt and pain.
Having compassion on a global scale could heal racism and other inequalities, and it could stop all the wars that are going on.
When we have compassion, we see other people with the same potential for goodness that we see in ourselves. We see them through eyes of universal love. Learning to see everyone this way would allow for a great amount of hope and healing all over the world.
“Having compassion starts and ends with having compassion for all those unwanted parts of ourselves.”
– Pema Chodron
The more we have compassion for ourselves, the more we learn to forgive and to open our hearts. We forgive all the broken, hurt, unwanted parts in ourselves. We show compassion. We use love to heal.
In the same way, we can use compassion to find forgiveness for others, even for people that we think don’t deserve it. Those are the people that need it the most. Those are the people who are inwardly suffering the worst.
We can even have compassion for people who hurt other people, when we recognize that they do this because they are hurting on the inside. Hurt people hurt people. When we have compassion we forgive, and we send love and healing to all of their hurt places inside.
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.
~Matthew 5:43–45
It is easy to love someone who loves you, or to have compassion for those who are suffering. It is hardest of all to have compassion for those who have hurt you, or those who have hurt others. As we learn to have compassion even for the ‘bad’ people in our world, we learn a deeper sense of compassion and become stronger people.
I would wish compassion to be sent with Cupid’s arrow to both those who suffer, and those who have made them suffer, as well as those standing on the sidelines. It is only through everyone having compassion that wars, crime and negativity in the world can come to an end.
Even one day with the gift of compassion could change people’s hearts for the better. It could unite humanity in an expression of the truest love imaginable.
To read more about the value of compassion in our daily lives, check out my eBook: Compassion is the Ultimate Goal of Spirituality.
Happy Valentines Day, my lovelies! Be kind to each other out there.