Opposing Forces: Avarice and Compassion

"If there is any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not deter or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again."
-William Penn

In my previous entry I stated that I would be talking about the Emotional Spectrum in my next entries. Today, the topic of avarice and compassion have been on my mind, given that I feel they are the opposites of each other.

The Emotional spectrum is an idea formed by Geoff Johns through a popular comic series in which certain emotions power different groups of people. There are negative emotions and there are positive ones. But each one interacts with each other in impacting ways. So let's start by defining our two emotions:

• Avarice (Greed): Excessive or inordinate desire of gain; greediness after wealth; covetousness; cupidity; Inordinate desire to acquire or possess more than one needs or deserves...
• Compassion: a deep awareness of and sympathy for another's suffering; the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it. 

It should be pretty easy to see the difference between the two of these. Avarice is about what you can do for yourself, whereas compassion is about what you can do for others.

I've seen greed drive so many people to do extremely selfish things and it's terrible to imagine that's the world we live in. I would love to blame American society for greed, but let's face it, humanity hasn't changed much. We are driven by the same instinctive desires as our ancestors and have to deal with them the same way as they did.

I can understand why people want to possess more, there's a lot of amazing things out there! Technology has come such a long way and it's remarkable how much we have progressed throughout the years. I think it's natural to want something. A part of story is being goal oriented. Without goals, how would we have direction?

The key thing to remember when it comes to wanting something is:

What are your motives? Why do you want _____________?

At the center of the emotional spectrum lies will. The will to act is one of the key ingredients into controlling your emotions and finding balance in life. A lot of people (mainly Christians) would scoff at the idea of willpower. I don't.

I think it's important to remember that we have designed with tools and abilities to overcome our emotional struggles. In the case of avarice it's as simple as ignoring the desires that are self serving. It's difficult, especially when someone you know has what you want. Envy is dangerous and destructive. It eats at you until you lose yourself in your desire, and you forget why you wanted it in the first place.

The truth of the matter is that maybe in the beginning your motives were pure.

"Man if I had this _____________ maybe, just maybe, I could make a different in someone's life"...yet you never acquire what you wished for. You grow a disdain for other people who are better off than you are and even for people that offer up encouragement.

the trick is to fight these desires with a more pure emotions. This is where compassion comes into play. In the past I've talked about the differences between sympathy and empathy. I've stated that sympathy is the right step above pity and that empathy is the pure form of sympathy. Sympathy is simply about loyalty and telling a friend you understand why they feel the way they do. Empathy is actually putting yourself in their shoes and feeling what they feel.

However, compassion, is wanting to do something to help those you now feel for. It's a step by step process that ends with action. You have to arrive at the understanding that you must strive to look out for the needs of others.

Compassion is one of the rarest emotions in humanity. In fact, we suffer from not having enough of it. Greed has overpowered it for far too long and it's heartbreaking.  I've often written about how selfishness must turn into selflessness in order for growth to take place. This goes hand in hand with the ideas surrounding compassion.

I focus on the individual because the whole will change if individuals become...well, individual. Knowing who you are is important in order to shine your light. Everyone needs to receive compassion and everyone needs to give it. The more compassion you show for others the closer you become to finding who you are. Compassion breeds identity. 

At the end of the day, you have to decide who you are going to be. I'm convinced that life doesn't truly begin until you decide to put away your selfish desires and start living for the people around you. It starts with compassion and ends with inspiring hope. Compassion seems meaningless if other people don't take the hint and find it in their own hearts. A domino effect needs to occur if change is to take place in the lives you touch.

As I've stated, willpower is at the center of the spectrum. Without it there is no control and no balance. Where you acquire the will to act is completely up to what you believe in and what you hope for. Even compassion can have a negative impact on you if you're not careful with what you give away. Sometimes you can give and give and give until there's nothing left for you to give.

Soul care is important which is why you must find balance. I believe C.S. Lewis was the one who said that an extreme of anything is a bad thing. Even compassion has its limits.

Let me encourage you with this: Live so that others may see how its done. If we focus on the helping those in need, our problems will become easier to handle and our fear will be easier to overcome.

Chris "Highball" Peters

Next up: Opposing Forces: Rage and Love