A Tuesday Quote & Thought 

I was asked to be a speaker for a panel discussion last week for a professional services organization Mister Sive has been President of, SMPS, The Society of Marketing Professional Services. It was a lively discussion with folks from other professions. The idea was to get a good mix of other people from differing work arenas to see what we all had in common. The word ’empathy’ became the common bond between all of us. Here is the definition:

em·pa·thy

ˈempəTHē/

noun

the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

I had found the above quote weeks ago and have been waiting for just the right time to post it. Today is the day as the word has been swirling around in my head since the presentation last Thursday. We flew to Milwaukee on Mother’s Day to see my mum. At 91 she is still as feisty as ever. Being with her is also a constant reminder of my father, who was and continues to be a daily source of inspiration to me, even though he died over 30 years ago. He lived the definition of empathy and instilled it in me as a value that was at the top of the list. In this time of much tumult and divide in our country and world, it is a word, a definition, an action that must be front and center. Call it humanity, the action of faith, or just wanting to be a better human being–to be able to understand and share the feelings of another in our day to day will help to make things better.