Hello Dawn
Thank you for such a beautiful and heart-warming post ...
It is a very interesting question that you ask ... Is love the same as compassion? .... mmmm .... For me it is and it isn't ... In my opinion it's not as clear cut as a simple yes or no ....
You can have compassion for someone but not necessarily love them or have love for them ... (referring here to the different kinds of love) .... From what you have said .. you have a "love" for people ... but your love for them extends to listening, offering advice, being there for them within the limits of possibility but ... your love isn't unconditional ... so in that case I would say that .... compassion is not representative of love in the true sense .... and that is perfectly normal ....
I do not think any of us could open up to having unconditional love for a stranger, or just a client who needs an ear ... if we could, we'd all be saints ... or holier than holy ... but that doesn't deny that we can love others in our own way in conformance with our own boundaries. It does not lessen the value...
You are right in what you say ... sadly too many businesses nowadays do not appreciate the importance of their employees' response and contact with their clients ... People do business with people they like ... people come back for more where they feel wanted and cared for .... people like to talk ... and they love people who lend them an ear ...
Too many companies are foolish to believe, nowadays, in our consumer society, that these issues no longer matter. They tend to want to ship clients in ... take their money from them and ship them out ... at minimal cost... least effort and maximum profit ... which includes limiting, or prohibiting, personnel from talking, socialising, listening to clients. So, I hear what you are saying loud and clear on that point ...
As for the rest of your post ... I would just like to say that you seem like a very beautiful human being .. with great depth and character ... and a special gift that you should never lose ... the only thing that concerns me is that you must learn to detach a little more from other peoples' emotional baggage ...
I am not saying that you shouldn't care for them ... or that you ignore them ... I am just asking you please to recognise what is genuinely your emotional feeling and that which belongs to someone else ... and dissassociate yourself a little from it .... just to safeguard your own emotional stability and well-being ...
It is not wrong to cry for someone else's pain ... or share their tears ... but it would be wrong for you to feel the burden of it beyond that ... because ultimately it will build up and build up until it may break you .... Don't ever let that happen ....
And... finally ... Because after this I will shut up ........It's not what you do that defines who you are ... always be proud of who you are ... and never think that you can't "be" .... the only thing that is different between you and whoever you think "IS" .... is the "get up and go" .... the "do it" .... rather than just the "talk about it" .... and when you feel like you're not appreciated ... just tell yourself that God loves you ... and he is, ultimately, the only one who matters .... because when he loves you ... all things are possible ..... and that's why you have been blessed with the gift of being able to bring joy into someone else's life ... and even if it does hurt when the love and joy you spread isn't reciprocated by the person/people you gave it to .... just remember ... you did it in the name of God ... and he loves you for it ....
Don't ever change .... I am so pleased you came by ....
Welcome Atlantean ..... Hugs to you
Venerina