Sunday, October 23, 2011

The Power of Acknowledgement

Something really simple, but amazingly powerful.

Acknowledgement.

I was thinking about how the storms of life...the challenges, the chanages, the losses, the offenses...can make someone feel completely alone. For all kinds of reasons the securities that normally keep us afloat seem to crumble, and we feel adrift in an ocean of trouble. So defeating. So demoralizing. So lonely.

Well, today, I noticed something...when people take a moment to "see" the suffering of another, they throw an individual a lifeline. When we say in word and deed that we see their pain and sorrow, we give them strength to face another moment.

There's no pressure to understand diagnose and fix. It's simple acknowledgement. It's simply telling them that you know they are here...and that matters.

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