{"id":7582,"date":"2016-08-09T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T14:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lovingonme.com\/?p=7582"},"modified":"2016-08-10T01:41:41","modified_gmt":"2016-08-10T06:41:41","slug":"turn-hope-empathy-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/2016\/08\/09\/turn-hope-empathy-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Turn Hope and Empathy into Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Empathy<\/a>On the evening of July 7th, I sat down to finish writing my Loving On Me blog post about my Independence Day experience. I had words of gratitude to share about how grateful I was to live in a country and in a community where we are free \u2013 free to celebrate with our families, free to celebrate with whomever we want, wherever we want. That peace and simple joy gave me a new sense of hope in light of all the tragedies our world had experienced over the past year \u2013 Paris, San Bernardino, Orlando, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and sadly too many others. But those moments came to a sudden heart-pounding stop as breaking news hit about Dallas Police officers being ambushed just miles away from my home. My heart sank. My mind rushed. My city, my hometown, our police officers were under siege.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, the topic I was writing about was the very thing someone was disgracing – our freedom. The thoughts and words simply wouldn\u2019t come and my writing ceased. Since then, Baton Rouge and Nice have happened and so have the funerals and memorial services. Hearts are heavy. Minds are numb.<\/p>\n

This past month has driven my prayers to daily ask God to show me wisdom and humility and to help me have compassion to do something that will make a positive difference in someone\u2019s life. Stories and videos have come across my path that have been, in some ways, answers to my prayers \u2013 examples of inspiration, hope, courage and action that I want to share with you.<\/p>\n

These are just some of the examples I\u2019ve seen of people turning their empathy into action \u2013 action that must not stop so that we can continue contributing to the conversations and solutions we must find, together. \u00a0As our kids head back to school this month and our country continues to consider who its next President will be, may we learn from and allow these latest tragedies to reshape our thinking a little more deeply, compassionately and wisely. As we move through our days, our political process, the way we raise and teach our kids, lead our companies and communities, may we, in the brilliantly succinct words of First Lady Michelle Obama \u201cgo high when they go low.\u201d May these stories inspire you to come up with creative commitments for change in your community.<\/p>\n