Compassion is a deep feeling of care and concern for someone who is suffering or struggling, combined with a desire to help them. When you feel compassion, you don't just notice that someone is hurting. You feel moved to do something about it.

Imagine a classmate drops their lunch tray in the cafeteria, and everyone stares. Compassion is what makes you walk over, help them clean up, and sit with them so they don't feel alone. It's different from pity, which can feel distant or superior. Compassion connects you to others: you recognize that you could just as easily be the one who needs help.

Compassion lets you understand someone else's pain or difficulty as if you could feel it yourself. A compassionate doctor doesn't just treat symptoms, but cares about how her patient is feeling. A compassionate friend notices when you're upset even before you say anything.

Compassion takes courage because it means opening your heart to others' struggles. It takes imagination too, since you have to picture what life feels like from another person's perspective. When you act with compassion, whether helping a younger student who's lost or comforting a friend whose pet died, you make the world a gentler, more connected place.