Don’t just see that someone’s having a tough time. 

Do what you can to ease their suffering. 

Giving, one of the paramitas, comprises three basic categories. The third category—fearlessness—is relieving others’ feelings, which can range from a vague sense of unease to outright terror.

Rarely will we find ourselves in a position to alleviate terror, but all around us anxieties abound. From the overweight mailman who delivers packages to an upstairs flat to the mother trying to calm her crying child in a clinic’s packed waiting room to the struggling freshman who just failed her exam.

No, we can’t change their situations. It’s their karmic consequence. But rarely are they expecting us to.

What we can do is raise our heads out of our own tiring, frustrating, heart-wrenching traumas and see that we’ve got a lot of company. Having lugged heavy boxes upstairs and failed our share of exams, we can sincerely appreciate what they’re going through.

And we can forget our own concerns and spend a few minutes letting them know that we care about theirs.