ABSTRACT
Both of us worked for many years in health care and we have also had a good deal of experience being on the “other side of the table” as recipients of care in the same system in which we worked. Each of us also came to crossroads in our work and personal lives that required us to deeply reflect on our values, ideals, and intentions for ourselves and the patients/clients who were in our care. At times, we each have had to carefully consider how to respond to clashes of our values versus specific policies and practices in some of the places where we’ve worked. Many of the choices we made around these factors focused on the relief of our own suffering so that we could continue in the path that we were meant to follow. Although our processes were different, occurring at differing times and in different contexts, the common thread of compassion emerged out of our life experiences as we each searched for meaning and tried to make sense of these difficult situations and times. The personal learning from our (sometimes painful and stressful) experiences were then readily applied to our working lives. Over the years, we each found that responding to our internal distress and to our external circumstances with compassion allowed for a greater sense of discernment and clarity.
