Photo taken three days after my dog’s terminal cancer diagnosis. I knew empathy was my first step to helping her.
I’ve made an incredible recovery to date, and I believe that sharing my story helps many more people than me. For God’s sake, please don’t admire me with your mind for making myself the example of bravery, of strength, of spirit. In the words of my hero for today, Orson Scott Card, I’ve “had so much damn respect (I) wanted to scream.”
Instead of admiring me or any other survivor of major illness with your mind, find one of the many, many people or animals in your life who ache to be loved and supported as they find their way into a very different life. Admire them with your heart. You know. Love them. Make some sort of a commitment to be there for them, a commitment that works for both of you.
Do something for others besides admire them with your mind. Warm them with your love.
“As love without esteem is capricious and volatile, esteem without love is languid and cold.” Jonathan Swift
Need more encouragement to feel? Here you go:
“The truest form of love is how you behave toward someone, not how you feel about them” Steve Hall
“Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be.” Leo Tolstoy, “Anna Karenina”
“Friendship is thinking of the other person first.” George Alexiou
“Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself.” Mohsin Hamid
“Because a human being is endowed with empathy, he violates the natural order if he does not reach out to those who need care. Responding to this empathy, one is in harmony with the order of things, with dharma; otherwise, one is not.” Dayananda Saraswati
“Humans aren’t as good as we should be in our capacity to empathize with feelings and thoughts of others, be they humans or other animals on Earth. So maybe part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be it, in fact, that were ‘reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy.'” Neil deGrasse Tyson
“Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It’s the capacity to understand that every way is both won and lost. And that someone else’s pain is as meaningful as your own.” Barbara Kingsolver
“Human morality is unthinkable without empathy.” Frans de Waal
Are you finding your way back to life? Are you wanting an infusion of let’s-get-back-to-living- spirit? Did reading this blog light you up? Good! I invite you to visit www.TransformingThroughLove.com and learn about the professional services I offer. Let’s schedule a free consult to see if we’re a match for each other.
Copyright 2016 by Sheryl Hirsch-Kramer. All rights for any further use reserved. For permission to repost or reuse the above only in its entirety, fill out this form: http://www.transformingthroughlove.com/contact/ The information presented at www.TransformingThroughLove.com and during coaching sessions is of a general nature and is not intended to be use as legal, medical or professional advice. None of the information on this website is intended as a substitute for the counsel of a qualified doctor/physician, nurse, pharmacist, or other trusted health professional. Always contact your own health care provider to assist you with your medical or health issues. The information presented here is only meant to support you while you are being cared for by your own health care provider during your life’s journey. It is not intended to be used as stand alone legal, medical or professional advice. We cannot and will not take any responsibility for the results or consequences of any attempt to use or adopt any of the information presented on this web site as legal, medical, or professional advice.Always consult your physician or trusted health professional to design a treatment plan for your own or for someone else’s wellness. All the information on this website is intended solely as loving support intended to accompany traditional medical care, not as stand-alone advice. We appreciate your donations; please send a message via the contact form for donation instructions.If you like what you’re reading here, please forward this website to a friend: http://www.transformingthroughlove.com.
