Compassion

It was mid afternoon and I was sitting outside at a cafe (aka food shack) loving every moment of the temporary break from the rain. Just as I was about to dive into my very delicious smelling vegetarian yellow curry a very poor looking man approached me from across the street. Using his hands he pointed at my food, then gestured towards his mouth. He was asking me if he could eat my food. I half smiled a pitty smile, (these are the worst!) and turned my gaze downward unsure of what to do. The single female travler side of me, also known as my overly alert head, felt like I had acted just as I should. The compassionate side of me, my heart, was angry at my response.

“Why didn’t you just give him your food?” it asked, “you could have easily spent 60 Baht ($2USD) on another meal. He needed it.”

“But you should just ignore these situations to play it safe.” responeded my head.

The debate between my heart and my head went on like this for about five minutes. By the time I looked up again, the man was long gone. “Damn,” I thought to myself, “I should have done it, I should have just given him my food. He certainly needed it more than I.”

Next time I’m presented with a situation like this I will listen to my more compassionate side. It’s through small acts of kindness and reaching out that we can really make a difference, especially if you do them every day.

“Act as if the future of the world depends on you, while laughing at yourself for thinking your actions make any difference.” ~Buddhist Advice