This past Saturday, American Refugee Committee president Daniel Wordsworth delivered an empowering speech at the annual Changemaker’s Ball. He spoke of the empathy necessary to interact with some of the most marginalized individuals on the planet on a daily basis. It boils down to the ability each of us to look at each other as we are – human beings. But what does it mean to be human? Wordsworth himself posed the question to spiritual leaders around the world and received a simple, yet profound answer.
He said, “First: Being a human is wondrous, but more than that, each person is a thing of wonder. Second: Each person has a unique gift, but more than that, it is in the giving of that gift to the world that we become fully human.”
So this week, give the gift of humanity, and through that, be human. Ask questions. Open yourself to new experiences. Recognize that the hundreds of faces you encounter on a daily basis, in the office or at home, have just as much to offer to you as you do to them. Be a thing of wonder. Be human.