Understanding Each Other

This afternoon, I met a young lady whom I had never met before.  I found out that she is working on a mental health awareness program in our company and that she might be interested in speaking with me about it. I contacted her last week and we set up a time to get together over coffee.  I was really looking forward to meeting with her and talking about how I could be involved in this important program.

We sat outside and talked about the program.  But mostly, we talked openly about our stories.  I was amazed at how easy it was to talk with each other about our issues.  Although we didn’t know each other, we understood each other, we empathized with each other, we cared about each other.  At the end of our meeting, we gave each other a hug.

I look forward to working with her and to helping our fellow employees understand mental illness.  Understanding is an important step to remove the stigma of mental illness and treatment.  And the better we understand each other, the better human beings we can be.