COMPASSION

com-pas-sion
Noun: Sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others

This is one of many basic human emotions that so many people lack.  Maybe this is something you need to have experienced in your own life in order to realize the true meaning of what compassion really is.
When I have gone through something very painful either personally or physically I always know that there are so many others with so much more pain.  My Grandmother - she has taught me true compassion.  Not by sitting me down and telling me but by her example.  She is the definition of a true survivor and when I felt hopeless at different times in my life I would look at her and knowing all she had been through and never once did she not have a smile on her face.
I was raised in a household where compassion was common whether or not I knew the proper name for it.  For years, and even still, I have been shown this by my parents.  There were times we had nothing and my parents have always been humble people.  Their focus has always been on helping others when at times the uncertainty of being able to help ourselves was strongly around us.  Never once have they asked or expected a thank-you or patted themselves on the back for any of the help they have given to many people all over the community. 
For my age I have gone through quite a bit of suffering both on my own poor choices and for many other reasons but due to the examples I was and still am so fortunate to have, I can't live in self pity but rather to realize how fortunate I truly am.  I have people who love & care for me unconditionally and would put anyone before themselves - a specialty my Mom has the title of.  I've never met anyone so self-less in my life and I have been around many people. 
Growing up my family never referred to anyone as "that homeless guy" or "the strange guy picking up cans all over town".  These were simply people we always grew up knowing as simply another human being. 
Now in my full adult hood I have taken the lessons that were simply shown to me and that I paid attention to.  I owe all of that to my Parents, My Grandmother, and several other people in my life who have always been there to show me. 
In my opinion compassion is something that is naturally born in each and every one of us-  but it is in the way you are shown that makes us learn the true meaning of the word, the action (s) of it in its entirety that we can appreciate the true understanding. 
In closing I would like you to ask yourself this question: "what have I done for someone lately" and if you can't remember then there is a golden opportunity.  You don't always know it but simply being there for another person or even the smallest gesture can make all the difference to a person that might really just have needed that.  And yes, it really is that simple....