Compassion is NOT A Feeling

There is a powerful story from 7 Habits of Highly Effective People where Steven Covey was speaking to a group.  After the talk, a man came up to Mr. Covey and said “My wife and I are close to a divorce.  We just don’t love each other anymore.  What should I do?”

Covey told the man, “You need to LOVE her.”

The man was confused.  “But you don’t understand,” he said.  “We just don’t FEEL that way anymore.”

Covey explained, “That’s the problem.  Love is not a feeling.  Love is an action.” Covey went onto explain that the husband needed to get back to taking action in consistent with love.  He needed to do things for her.  He needed to serve her.  He needed to LOVE her.  It’s an action.

I was reminded about this at a church service recently when our pastor declared that “Compassion is NOT a feeling.  It’s an action!” I agree.  Way too many times in life, we feel things and hope that is enough.  It almost never is.  It is imperative, in nearly every area of our lives, to take more action. The thing that is holding most people back in their work, dreams, relationships, fitness and more…is action.  Most of us dream about what we want.  We think a lot about what others have that we don’t.  We might even take the extra step and write down the sincere wishes we have in our life.  Heck, we might even meditate or pray in hopes the universe will bring them to us!

What we don’t do is take action.

If we are not seeing enough change, we are not taking enough action.

So if you want your spouse to know that you love them…LOVE them. If you want your team to know you have compassion for them…SHOW them. If you want your community to know you care about it…GIVE something. It’s not about thoughts.  It’s not about dreams.  It’s about action.   Take some.

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Written by: Kirby Hasseman

Kirby Hasseman is the CEO of Hasseman Marketing & Communications. Kirby hosts a weekly Web show called Delivering Marketing Joy where he interviews business leaders from around the country. Kirby has published four books. His most recent is “Fan of Happy.” His book, called "Delivering Marketing Joy" is about doing “promo right” and is perfect for people in the industry and customers. He also wrote “Think Big For Small Business” and “Give Your Way to Success. All are available on Amazon.