Choose Compassion

I have been telling people for years that raising Travis has made me a better person. I constantly said that because of him I was more tolerant and less judgmental. One day just recently I said exactly that to Travis’s therapist. She said wait, I don't think you’re saying what you mean to say.

I was confused. So I asked her what she meant. She told me that she thought what I was trying to say is that raising Travis has made me a more compassionate person. She asked me, are you just tolerating the differences in others? Or are you feeling compassion for their situation?

Wow! Maybe I need a therapist of my own. She was right. I was not saying what I thought I was saying.

I have to admit, I get frustrated. Travis has his fair share of people in his life that not only do not show compassion for his situation, but they also barely tolerate him. Oftentimes we hear comments like, “if he would just apply himself, his life could be different”.

If comments like that frustrate me, how are they making him feel?

We have been made to feel that if only we had done a better job of parenting he would be in a better place.

Again, wow! Oftentimes I find myself wanting to say something like, “walk a mile in my shoes”.

But ultimately over the years I have learned, or really am still in the process of learning, that the best way to teach others compassion is to model it.

And I hope that over the years in telling various Travis stories to various people, that maybe some of these people have taken pause.

And chose compassion.

“It takes a special kind of person to care for a child with special needs.” Cross that out. “A child with special needs will inspire you to be a special kind of person.” - Author, Global Hydranencephaly Foundation