The Love of Compassion

Our world is not and will never be perfect but despite of its being melancholic, it is still an
amazing place worth of exploring. In every step of our foot on the ground, every action we take,
every fall of our eyes and how we shed our tears and every downfall we had, other people will
always have something to say, it may be on our side or sadly against us but either way, one thing
is for sure; we are all under the same roof of prejudice society, we may not admit it but we are all
prejudice of one another in some different ways, denying such thing is useless. But in this kind of
society that we are living right now, how should one really live? Are we going to take the easier
path by conforming to the norms of the society? Or are we going to choose the unknown path
bringing our own identity?

Since I can remember, my childhood is all about do’s and don’ts of where to pee, how to
eat, when to play and the list goes on, but I’m sure I am not the only one who got to experience
these things. My life is not shaped as is but rather it is molded not by only by my effort but also
by our society. I lived my life by following rules because personally, I am afraid to do mistakes
even the littlest ones. I am afraid to fall, to take the unknown and the path where everything is in
questioned. I don’t like surprises, I love assurance. I want to maintain my “almost-too-perfect”
image just to satisfy my ego. I used to wake up really morning to go to school and be the earliest
and live the school the latest and just go straight to my house. No, as I grow, my parents and even
my grandparents allowed me to explore so many things beyond what I can imagine, but on those
times, I thought this is what exploring is- enclosing myself on world defined with four equal
straight sides and four right angles. Perfectionism is really just beside me. I was too eaten by my
fear to be judged that I lost my self along the way. One time, I’ve realized that this is not the life
that I wanted to be or this is not how I want to live my life. There is a voice inside my soul shouting
that I needed to wake up and I needed to do some renewal with my broken soul who used to just
listen to others until she lost her own voice. But don’t get me wrong, I am not and I will never
isolate myself to others. My soul is still open to their voice but my heart is now more open to the
voice inside my soul. Without any interactions to others and isolating myself to this world, I would
not be able to learn more, understand things deeper and refining my initial perceptions to a better
one. I wanted to use my own voice to face every twists of faith that life could offer. Also, I want
to use my own voice to find my purpose to myself and to others. Let’s all admit in some
circumstance in our life, we relied to others and we continuously rely to them and our purpose is
not only for ourselves but also embedded with my purpose to other people that I am having
interactions with.

No man is really an island. As I grow, every Christmas I used to wish for all the material
things a child like me could have, from the prettiest and the latest barbie doll to the latest
smartphone that I could ever have and be proud of to the dream to graduate on my college course
and give my family the best life we could ever have. My dreams and my wishes might change
every time, I might add more and make the list longer but all these dreams and wishes inside me,
all have a common ground that is my main and highest goal which is to achieve happiness. What
ever my end goal and telos will be, I know behind those dreams, I am seeking for happiness.
Seeking for happiness is not just about getting the things that only revolve around myself but also,
happiness could also grow from giving happiness to others. For instance, giving a hand to those
who need it and a hug who is lost and tapping a person’s back that he did a good job today.
Happiness is giving kindness in littlest and possible way. Seeking happiness is not about getting a
certain thing and immediately you will truly be happy but rather happiness is a product of a journey
beyond another journey. Getting the happiness that I want is being governed firstly by the kindness
and the love that I want to impart to others and while imparting my love and compassion to others,
I’m sure I am also making myself happy and grateful.

Giving happiness to myself and others is not just about considering the greatest number of
people but considering the common goodness of all without any standards and requirements.
Moreover, ethical perspective differs from person to person, but this is just perfectly normal and
fine. Every person has their own story to tell and experience to share that let them do such decision
or action and I think that is what our country is being needed to be knowledgeable about, we might
be judgmental at all possible ways but I wanted to enhance and seek for deeper understanding of
these actions, actions that do not comply with mine doesn’t technically means immoral and makes
them evil. However, there are still circumstances that this belief of mine will never be applicable
most especially to those people who took at advantage of others which means, getting what they
want even at the expense of others most especially those people in the government who put the
law on their own hands and those officials who already made them self-rich from leaving those
people at the disadvantage state of life. I believe that morality and immorality differ from each
one of us. The action that might seem moral to me might be immoral to others but whatever
judgment we will make one thing is for sure, we seek to avoid the badness in this world and avoid
immorality. Respect is also a key for greater happiness.

But just like what Aristotle had stated, that a good person is someone who lived based on
his telos and how he acts on it. I believe that my end goal will never be fruitful without actions
that comes on it and how I do my actions to reach my goal. And for me, I don’t believe that end
justifies the means, the process I did take to reach my goal should never be neglected on how I
overcome all the circumstances I faced. As discussed by Immanuel Kant, the conclusion of our
actions will not determine our rightness or wrongness but rather our intention and the purpose our
action.

Deciding on what action to take is not always based solely on my own perceptions and so
ethical framework varies from situations to situations. Not all actions should be based on duty and
so with the conclusion brought by the action but rather all actions are better to be governed by the
proper weighing whether there is a need of the mixture of all of these concepts with proper balance
to make the most applicable action or to choose just one from these and maximize its power. I
want to emphasize that I love the relationship between the reciprocal altruism wherein you treated
others, also as yourself and rational self-interest because I believe that we all could get happiness
while making others happy.

Aside from seeking for happiness, I seek to know myself better, not from other’s vision but
from my own sight. I want to seek for deeper understanding of myself and to have a deeper
connection with my soul because for me it is the best way to share my existence to others. Also,
as Socrates said, “unexamined life is not worth living”, for me a life without understanding the
whys and hows of our life is a life of nothingness because we don’t seek to understand our self
because without knowing ourselves first above anything else, we will not be able to find our
purpose and be able to be happy.

The way I lived my life is also governed by my religious beliefs and I don’t think I can
separate from this, because since I was a child, I always put God as the center of my life. I was
raised in a religious family but I am aware that Catholic religion has its own issues, limitations and
problems itself, there are also some teachings from our religion which I don’t think is right because
sometimes I find religious belief being too judgmental and is sometimes used to justify some awful
actions. I think I will be able to utilized the Catholic teachings by still considering my own
judgments of things. I don’t think that my ethical beliefs are far away from my religious belief
because I utilized both for common goodness for myself and for others.

Living life in the most desiring and meaningful way is continuously asking questions and
seeking for answers. It is not only about a life where you only get what you want but it is a life of
how you get your goals. It is not a life where you just act just based on what you feel but rather it
is governed by ethical beliefs. My ethical beliefs are those that I can consider ways that I could
share my self to others because on that way I could attained happiness while helping others, I don’t
want to be your typical hero, I just want to live my life not just about myself, I want to get
happiness, avoid pain and satisfy my own needs and pleasure by giving a hand on myself when I
needed it and giving a hand to the world who lost the love of compassion.

PUNTANAR, BREANNAH PAOLA S.