I’d like to share a short passage from The Four Sacred Gifts: Indigenous Wisdom for Modern Times by Anita Sanchez, Ph.D. Dr Sanchez explores the beauty and practical power of indigenous wisdom and living as whole, joyful human beings. Through a series of stories from her own amazing journey, the author inspires us to discover and trust our gifts showing us how to become the life-giving connection to all.
As an individual, how do I begin my own transformation? Gratitude is but one of the first steps. Another is to practice empathy, a caring response to another person’s emotional, physical and spiritual state; a way of being in unity with another being. How do we practice empathy? We first imagine ourselves in the other’s place, seeing through their eyes and holding them in the most positive light. We notice, feel into, let ourselves understand their emotions, and we care about and value them. In fact, we carry with us an intent to maximize the other’s emotional well-being. This is the golden path to empathy. Look around you; notice others who are really present to people around them. They are bringing healing energy to community. Watch and listen, experience their empathy, and discover how it affects you in just being present for it. From this, we can grow our own capacity to live in the empathetic state of unity with others
Enjoy the day!
Carol