Growing up, we were all told to follow “The Golden Rule," which is “treat others the way you want to be treated.” It’s so simple, yet in today’s society I feel like we are all lacking a little compassion and consideration for others. We live in an extremely busy, fast paced world.

Because of this, I think we’ve overlooked the fact that we are all just people fighting different battles every day. We get so caught up in ourselves and doing what’s best for our own success over others, we forget to treat everyone else with respect. I know so many people that go through life so narrow-minded. They only do things that will help them get ahead and don’t care who they hurt in the process.

When it comes down to it, you just never know what someone could be going through. I had a teacher that was always super easy going and friendly in class. Then, one day I came to class and her whole attitude had completely changed. She started getting mad at us for the smallest things, was yelling, and was very short with every question we asked.

Of course, the majority of the class was extremely rude and disrespectful to her when her whole demeanor had changed. She started crying in class a few days later and began to apologize to all of us for how she had been acting. It was then that we all learned her best friend has passed away suddenly and she was the one left to make all funeral arrangements, while still coming to work and trying to make it through every day.

I can't even begin to describe the sadness I felt at knowing how strong she had been to lose a friend and still try to go on like it was all okay. We really never know what other people are going through. Don't get me wrong, there is no shame in being selfish when it comes to some things. But there's also plenty of opportunities to be selfless. The next time someone is having a bad day, ask them what's wrong, talk to them. When you see someone being bullied, put down, or ostracized for their opinion, speak up.

Let them know they're not alone. It's only fair to show some compassion to a friend, or a stranger because you would want them to do the same for you. Bottom line, no one likes feeling alone. Use your compassion to bridge that gap. Be the change you wish to see in the world. We've all been in situations where we wish we had someone to step up and be considerate of our feelings or our situation. With everything going on in our world today it definitely would not hurt to step out of your comfort zone and speak up for someone whose voice isn't quite loud enough.