Once upon a time there lived a surgeon and a patient who had to be operated upon. The patient knew that the surgery will cure him so had put his faith on the surgeon, it was taken for granted (or understood) that the surgery will leave some scars and will be painful, although the patient did not like either of them but he had come to terms with these facts of life – though painful, he would not complain about post operative trauma and the scars.
The surgeon being a practitioner of his field knew what causes pain and what how a cut would result in a scar. The surgeon to a limited degree has the freedom of making the cut they way he wishes, but if he could empathize with the patient, be compassionate, go beyond the call of duty, feel for the patient then he can make cuts that would heal faster, be less painful, leave scars that would be less prominent.
In terms of ‘business as usual’ the surgeon would not have achieved anything substantial rather would have expended some time on paying extra care; the question is - was that extra care worth it. If the surgeon treats a lot of patients it is possible that he might actually be missing out on business by paying extra care to individual patients. It depends on the surgeon what he values more – being compassionate to his patients or his business as usual.
Extending this story onto out lives makes us aware that we too are like the surgeon. We too, at several occasions in life, take the freedom of expressing out differences with people we care for. These people, owing to the affection that they have for us, have given us the freedom of inflicting pain and leaving scars to a certain degree.
So I wonder – is it not worth to make an effort to understand what my words and actions will have on the other person? Is it not worth making an effort to alleviate the pain by putting things that will be easier on the other person? Is it not worth keeping a check on the degree up to which we take our loved ones for granted? Is it not worth being a bit more compassionate that I right now am?
If I my affection for someone is true then I too should feel their happiness, I too should feel their pain, I too should feel for them. Compassion is the key, you being compassionate will be perceived by the others and they too will be moved by it.
Call me idealist but should that deter us from striving for being better, after all we are the world and we dream of a better world.
