Hurt People Hurt

by | Mar 10, 2019 | Compassion, Healing

People don’t usually hurt others unless they’ve been wounded in a similar way in the past and are in pain themselves. Abuse and mistreatment are learned early and passed down for generations. Punishing people who hurt others without helping them address...

Can’t Know for Sure

by | Mar 8, 2019 | Compassion

We can’t possibly understand why others behave as they do. We’d have to be them to know. There are so many visible and imperceivable variables from their past and present that govern their choices, it’s unreasonable to assume we wouldn’t behave...

Sensitivity and Boundaries

by | Jan 3, 2018 | Compassion

When we’re young, we think the world revolves around us. As we mature, we begin to understand that everybody is at the center of their own world. Some of us are better at sensing others’ needs and preferences. We don’t have to lose ourselves in that...

Silver and Plastic Spoons

by | Oct 23, 2017 | Compassion

We aren’t all born equal. We don’t have the same intelligence, strength, natural talents, wealth or health. We weren’t all equally loved and nurtured or born into the same degree of safety and security. Neither do we all have the same ability to face...

What Our Brains Reveal

by | Aug 6, 2017 | Compassion, Understanding

Pulling oneself up by the bootstraps isn’t equally easy for everyone. A study of 83,000 brain scans revealed that criminal behavior, depression and mental illness often result from some form of brain injury. The study showed that treating the specific type of...

Apology Redux

by | Oct 31, 2016 | Compassion

We all make mistakes, it’s part of being human. Sometimes those mistakes are happy ones and actually bring good fortune. But sometimes they hurt others. When that happens, it’s often not the mistake that’s the biggest problem, but what we do (or...