A Tribute To Wayne Dyer
I just found out that Wayne Dyer passed away. In case you aren’t aware of his work, he was a best-selling author and motivational speaker, and Wayne Dyer is the reason that COMPASSION IT exists.
That is not an exaggeration.
In May of 2014, I met a fellow San Diegan who knew Wayne Dyer, and he offered to send him a letter on my behalf. I was thrilled that I would have the opportunity to share with Dr. Dyer how his life’s work inspired me to discover my life’s work. I’m not sure if he ever received the letter, but I sure hope so.
This is what I wrote:
Dear Dr. Dyer,
Words cannot express how grateful I am. You shared words of wisdom years ago that changed the course of my life.
In 2008, I experienced tremendous suffering. As stay-at-home mom of my 18-month-old daughter, I faced an unwanted divorce that turned my picture-perfect life upside down. I was lost, and I was a mess. Luckily, I caught an ‘Ellen’ episode featuring you. You said that compassion is the most important lesson to teach our children. You said we could solve every social problem on the planet if we teach this younger generation to put themselves in another’s shoes.
I couldn’t stop thinking about compassion’s power, and that evening the word compassionate became two words – compassion it. This makes compassion a VERB! An ACTION! It made so much sense to me.
It took me a few years to introduce this two-word message to the world, but once I did, the message spread like wildfire. My team and I created the world’s first action-prompting reversible two-color wristband to spread this message of compassion. Start the morning with one side out and flip it to the other side when you do an act of compassion (or ‘compassion it’).
After less than two years of introducing the wristband, I’m happy to report that over 30,000 COMPASSION IT wristbands are prompting compassionate actions on six continents, 42 countries and 47 states. It is truly a global social movement. (Update: Now in Aug 2015, we have over 70,000 wristbands in 48 countries and 50 U.S. states.)
COMPASSION IT is now an official nonprofit organization, and we offer compassion education programs and use our products to spread compassion and fund our organization. Like you, I believe that this message of compassion can bring peace to our world, and I’m passionate about sharing it with others. In fact, I’m now a certified teacher of Stanford University’s Compassion Cultivation Training course.
Here’s our website https://compassionit.com, and here’s a brief video that explains what we do https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4musniC54o.
When I met (your friend) and he shared that he knows you, I nearly fell out of my seat! If it is at all possible to thank you in person when you’re in San Diego, please let me know. Of course, I’d be honored if you would join the movement and would love to send you a pair of wristbands.
I will forever be grateful to you for helping me become a conduit for compassion.
With gratitude and Compassion It-ly,
Sara
