Page 178 - South Mississippi Living - November, 2015

THEFINALSAY JOSHUA
BRUCE
Administrator,
Canon Hospice of the Gulf Coast
photo by Teddy Lewis
Everyone deserves good care; doesn’t matter who they are, where they come from, or what they may have done in their lives. This is the mission I live for everyday. It wasn’t easy to undertake
this mission. Sadly, it was earned through pain and trauma.
At a young age, I was forced to witness my mother, best friend, and grandmother suffer and pass from long term illnesses. Today, I understand why I had to endure all of these life experiences — not only for the philosophy but also for the perspective. Knowing that at any moment everything can change, gives me a sense of gratitude for the small things in life. All it takes is a little bit of kindness and compassion to show others you care.
What is compassion? As a child we
are taught to love the world and the creatures in it. We sometimes forget that we ourselves are creatures of this world.
I feel that at times we get stuck in our own view of the world and forget that everyone else has feelings too. What good is the modern world if we have forgotten how to treat one another? It isn’t as though we forget the golden rule; just that we forget to look past ourselves.
As a medical professional, all too often I hear conversations about the disease rather than the person. I must remind myself and the people around me that the patient is also a person, and he or she deserves kindness and compassion.
I tell my colleagues to imagine that their mother is the person lying in that bed, and that we are to assess the situation as such. This method is an unorthodox one, I shall admit, but I will say people tend to view things differently when it’s so personal.
This same method can be applied to any situation with which we’re faced.
So I implore you as you read this, find someone around you and do something nice. Volunteer for a local charity, or
just do a random act of kindness for a complete stranger. It will change your perspective on how you view the world and the people in it. I asked the question “what is compassion?” Compassion is love.
178 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • November 2015
FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net