I’m Annette Leonard of https://www.annetteleonard.com find me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theannetteleonard Today I'm wrapping up my series on empathy and compassion. These words are not synonyms. Once I feel empathy - identifying with someone's experience, I can behave compassionately - take action on those feelings. Empathy's shortcoming: if I don't see myself in someone else, I might not feel empathy. However, compassionate action means that I can lend myself to a cause just because I see that cause as right and good. An example: I believe in housing justice even if I can't identify with the plight of a refugee who is benefiting from that work. Empathy and compassion can be external but they can also be internal. I can also be reflective and be empathetic about my own experience and take compassionate action. It seems ideal to consider this during the holidays. Whether it's the shorter days, the expectations of the holidays, the grief or a myriad of other reasons. With chronic pain and illness, we need to take care to think about what we need or want from the season and set boundaries for ourselves. How can you be compassionate towards yourself in ways that will leave you feeling better at the end of December than you did if you just went along with what others wanted. Connection is an important part of our well-being. What connecting can you do over the holidays that will fill your cup. With long-term illness it's easy to recede. How can compassion towards yourself include connection? Pema Chodron introduced me to the practice of tonglen. A way to experience compassionate action through mindfulness. This is the Chronic Wellness Podcast. I'm Annette Leonard, speaker, coach, and sick person who believes that my illnesses do not define me. If health is the absence of disease and wellness is the presence of wholeness, then no matter what your disease status, we can work toward your wellness, your wholeness. Whether or not you are ever "healthy" on paper, you can be well. Join me and others on the path back to wholeness at AnnetteLeonard.com. Whether you are a person experiencing chronic illness or are someone who loves or serves people with chronic illness I have great resources here on this channel or on my website for you.