The woman told me, “People give us nasty looks as we park in a spot marked for handicapped people. However much on the outside my husband looks healthy, he has a heart condition that restricts his ability to walk far and fast.”
Sometimes we criticize people who appear healthy yet have a debilitating illness hidden from our accusing eyes.
Sometimes we must have an experience to nudge us toward empathy.
This past week, I suffered an allergy attack that sapped most of my energy provoked considerable congestion. I am prone to certain attacks from pollen, but seldom this bad this long.
Couple that with an abnormally busy schedule—meeting, early a.m. Blood draw, doctor appointment for regular checkup, dinner meeting, early meeting, breakfast meeting, finally two Zoom calls Friday afternoon to cap the week. It was all good. But when I wasn’t meeting, I was sleeping.
I thought, most people would not know how devoid of energy I was on the inside while meeting on the outside.
Further, I thought, how often am I guilty of judging someone on the outside unaware of the struggles going on deep within?
Gary Mintchell
Faith Venture 