Turning empathy into action

A few days ago, I called a friend of mine in France, to whom I had not spoken in a long time. As we were getting caught up, he told me that his son was, once again, out of a job. Not a good news.

His son, now in his forties, was educated to work in the merchant navy, where most jobs, in France like anywhere else in the first world, have been taken by developing nation citizens accepting rock-bottom wages. To make do for a while, he had taken a teaching job that unfortunately was coming to an end.

After he mentioned that, we kept talking, covering a variety of topics until our conversation came to an end. As I hung up, I thought to myself: “What do I do with that conversation? Do I let it slip by like this happen with so many casual talks? Now, how could I do something help my friend's son?”

Listening with compassion is one thing, but it doesn't do much good if not acted upon or put to work towards a solution, I thought. I'd never realized it before, but it's the exact truth. From that insight on, it didn't take me long to come up with some vague thoughts that focused on one idea in particular. I researched it further, and soon found a very original and targeted lead that hopefully might get that young man a job.

It's not done yet, but I hope it could and the take-away of that all story is that it's just a reminder that when we hear someone's sorrows, we always should look for some way to alleviate them. Often times, our own creative wheels have the ability to churn up a lead or come much closer to finding a solution...