When I was a child, negative words or attitudes would prompt my mother to say,"Walk a mile in their shoes and then you may understand".  God Bless her Soul - it was a good lesson to learn.
I have been blessed with Empathy, Compassion and Love.
To the point where sometimes it feels like my heart is being ripped right out of my chest.
A "Save the Children" commercial will have me weeping within seconds.  "Animal Cop" programs will cause me to weep in agony for the sweet souls of animals mistreated.  the haunted eyes of the old man in the grocery store, the newborn baby being held close by momma, my grandchildren playing in the garden, ducks by the lake on a summer morning at sunrise, the majestic elephant.
I have witnessed the Life Energy of the plant kingdom and have rejoiced with them in their pure exuberance of "Being".  I have held a dying branch in my hands and sorrowed for its loss.  I have gathered wild herbs in the fields, gently holding their Life Force and thanking them for their service and abundance. 
I revere Life.  I Love.
I have birthed new Life and I have seen Life lost.
All of these grab my heart and squeeze it and I pour my heart out to them in a prayer, in a silent song, a coo of comfort, a hug from the Soul.
For I have walked a mile in their shoes:
I have hungered.
I have been in agony.
I have been haunted and lost.
I have been broken.
I have needed to be held.
I have had my life energy ripped out from under me.
Empathy.  Compassion.  Love.
These virtues are mine. I Claim them.
If I have learned nothing else - if I AM nothing else, I claim This as Who I AM.
This is the Light I have shared with the world.
This is my Song, my Dance, my Embrace.
To Humanity.
To Mother Earth.
To God.
To Myself.
And so, in this moment - in this NOW - I declare:
I AM a lamp unto Thy feet.
I AM a Light unto thy path.
I WILL continue to shine.
Nothing can stop me.  I AM.
---------------------------------------------------
Another of my mothers favorite mantras, "To Thine Own Self Be True".
Yet -
I am but one piece of the puzzle.
If we take You and You and You and You and You and You ad infinate...
and we put us all together, fitting in all of the pieces of the puzzle...
WE
GET
ONE
BEAUTIFUL
WORK
OF
ART.
See the picture?
May YOU be Blessed.