The handout next reads the following: "Inspires compassion toward others." This internal positive expression of the compassionate also creates a corollary with the anger driven one we discussed before. In that discussion, we indentified that every negative act toward us from another person serves as a reflection and extension of the way in which that other person treats her/him self. It follows that when we feel compassion toward ourselves, we will more likely extend that compassion, the unconditional and acceptance to others. If we truly experience ourselves as an I in the I/Thou, we will experience others not as an It but as a Thou. When we truly say "Yes" to the I of the becoming self, we say "Yes" to the Thou of everyone else, to all others' becoming self.[131]
"Inspires compassion in others." As whole beings, we continue to seek unconditional positive regard and all that comes along with it which I have started calling simply "the unconditional." This quality opens us to feelings of love, to the I/Thou, and to the end principle. It also makes us vulnerable. We will, most if not all of us, feel this vulnerability and have felt exploited or abused many, many times. That's part of what makes it so hard for us to express our feelings of the unconditional. Such an expression can leave us and our vulnerability feeling exposed to the dangers of rejection and manipulation. That sense of exposure can take us into fear because fear also serves as an expression of the feeling of powerlessness, a profound loss of position power. When we feel rejected or manipulated, we can choose to feel powerless. Once we make that choice, the next choice can come as anger, as we have seen, and it can also come as fear. If we feel that fear strongly enough, we will not act compassionately toward others. The corollary to that can mean that when we reject compassion in its universal sense, we may reject compassion for ourselves as well. As Buber tells us, if we choose to form an I/It relationship with others, we make an It of ourselves.[132]