It was the power of this image that

It was the power of this image that eventually influenced Carlos to become a hospice volunteer. Self-compassion had, for Carlos, enlivened his awareness of compassion for others, even for his father. He told me that he could be available to other dying people even though he hadn’t been there for his own dying father. ‘I’m kind of doing this for my dad, in his honour. He was a bastard but he wasn’t all bad, you know?’ For Carlos, volunteering was a way of making amends. With this full acceptance of his past behaviour, he was able to move forward in his own life without berating himself for deeds undone. He was able to derive new meaning from his past and transcend his suffering.