So, You Think Youâre Mean, But âReallyâ a Compassionate Person
A self-acknowledged conundrum. Lingering annoyingly, along with a convicting need to be figured out. âObviously, I canât be both - theyâre either right, or me!â
Well....
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As an aware people, we know thereâs a flipside to âwe are defined by our actions.â Right, we understand that PEOPLE understandably define us, by the actions we regularly take. What else do we have to go on, when the only subjective experience we can share in is our own? But, being a people much more aware and insightful, on the occurrences of the inner reality, we know that itâs not âall the timeâ that our actions define what we KNOW to be truly in our hearts. I mean, TRUE - our actions stem from what resides withIN our hearts, but to say that they tell others who we really âareâ - in essence - isnât exactly accurate. Sadly, a huge downfall of compassionate people, deeply involved with the people they care about (friends, family, romantic partners, etc.) is that itâs way too easy to get caught up regularly in finding themselves âjustifyingâ certain actions that donât exactly line up with what they KNOW they truly are - âcompassionate.â
Now, this isnât to say they make excuses TO themselves, out of denial, for the actions they take that arenât âcompassionate,â in efforts to prove to others that they are - as much as it is to âspareâ the ones they love, from feeling that certain uncontrollable outbursts, donât mean what they âappearâ to mean.
Somewhere in that circus of a mind, âThose harsh, harsh words would be easier to swallow, if you felt the catalyst for them was external, rather than internal.If you love ME, wouldnât you rather feel my angry outburst could be easily corrected, by simply changing an EXTERNAL factor, rather than figuring out how to address one INTERNALLY?â
Ehhh....well, thatâs grossly debatable, and definitely varies - especially depending on the parties involved.
(The point here being, obviously the problem begins with the owner of the erratic expressions. If you have a problem, itâs YOUR job to clearly express this.)
But to address the dilemma happening internally, in relation to settling on WHO YOU ARE - letâs try to eliminate the internal conflict.
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Deeply compassionate people tend to ALSOÂ be deeply emotional. And unless very controlled, the emotions of these types of people can come off in extremely erratic ways -thus, sending off mixed signals that donât exactly say what they are meant to say. Or, the mixed emotions become so overwhelmingly disorganized and intense that they burst out on their own - with no need of a specific motivation, with no exact goal in mind - at all.Â
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Hurt comes off as anger. Stress comes off as frustration. Confusion comes off as detachment.
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Or whatever the case may be.
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When feelings arenât sorted and placed as necessary, you can count on them being misrepresented - hence, misunderstood. If you donât understand your own emotions, how can you expect anyone else to understand them?
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Itâs not so far-fetched then to believe that a person may consider themselves to be very compassionate, while certain people (the objects of the expressions) may actually consider them the exact opposite.
Emotions have a funny song they sing, when left untamed - and intense emotions, a wild one.
No need to enter the stage of âIdentity Crisis,â as you move along, in your trek of genuine personal development -  no need to struggle, attempting to find which label fits you best, when, really, itâs ridiculous to believe that a single word can define you (this or that, black or white)
And, thereâs definitely no need to allow othersâ label selection be the thing that defines you. You know whatâs in your heart - You know who you are. The first step to externalizing what you know is inside, is recognizing also whatâs âoccurringâ inside - and also, why it doesnât always show up externally.
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Itâs one thing to understand that emotions need to be âcontrolledâ - itâs another to understand âhowâ. The âhowâis unique, to each individual. And discovering YOUR âhowâ begins with a true desire.
First, âwantâ to develop yourself, then âisolateâ your focus: âEffective expression of whatâs inside.â The most important thing, if you feel that this is you, is to be âokayâ with acknowledging that sometimes âyou just donât know.â But trust that Life has a way of highlighting it all - And with it, Time brings understanding.












