Pity vs compassion

Reading an anthology of cancer survivors  one writer wrote that she didn't pity herself so she didn't want  from anybody else. Pity is a wasted emotion as far she concerns. I could see her logic. Pity as an emotion would be nothing if there without action. God's pity would be philosophically different as we could assume that his emotion would equal His will. Obviously for us mortal stopping at feeling pity to other would count for nothing. 

This article explain the difference between pity and compassion. Compassion involves the willingness to become personally involved, while pity usually does not. Pity involves the belief in the inferiority of the object and it could be exploited by beggars for example. We read that some beggars are actually rich. Some would argue not to give money to beggars. In fact there are laws against giving to beggars

Being compassionate is apparently wired in our brain, some form compassion is tougher and too much compassion apparently also bad for us (compassion fatigue). Looks like we should always remember that a human being we would need to take care for our self first. With that the concept of self compassion would come to mind. Self-compassion involves acting the same way towards yourself when you are having a difficult time, fail, or notice something you don’t like about yourself. Instead of just ignoring your pain with a “stiff upper lip” mentality, you stop to tell yourself “this is really difficult right now,” how can I comfort and care for myself in this moment? Despite its logic self-compassion is not always easy. But of course we could not give (including to ourselves) what we do not have