Thinking of Others Over Oneself

Original Post in June 2003, “The Wirth Report”

Most of us use prayer as a means to ask for and to give thanks. So the main ingredients are making requests - or saying thank you's. In this sense, we are the focus of our prayers. Can you imagine, though, that what you ask for in your prayers could be an answer to someone else's prayers? In other words, prayer becomes infinitely more powerful when our requests are for something beyond our own personal wants, needs, and aspirations.

Now, I'm not suggesting simple wording changes here. No, I am asking you to infuse your prayers with a real conscious intent ""to be used for a purpose,"" as George Bernard Shaw described in his poem Man & Superman.

It's so easy to become bogged down in our petty complaints about ""why the world [won't] devote itself to making [us] happy."" When this happens, our selfishness shines brighter than our faith, deeper than our capacity to witness, and stronger than our stewardship of the blessings God has created in us." "And I'm not just talking about lack. We can all find something to complain about.

Sometimes we complain about having too much of something - even success.

With all this complaining, it's easy to see why we often find ourselves feeling depressed, sad, or even angry at the life circumstances we face. But did you ever notice that nobody really escapes challenge or responsibility?

So, generous and magical acts of love (powerful prayers) can create the space for others to know and experience God's love first hand! In this way, faith is born from our prayers, which lifts our prayers to a higher calling (than just our customary desires for our own better standard of living).

And I recognize that this isn't always so easy to practice.

It's OK to be challenged in this process. Just hang in there! If you do, you'll notice a resonance of appreciation ushering forth from these prayers like ripples from the stone that lands in the sea of humanity!"

This section is called Spirit because it encompasses all of the various ways in which people connect with something larger than themselves. This could take the form of religion or it could be found in nature, in community, or in a quiet awareness that we are not separate from one another. 

In the article above, we use the language “prayer” and mention “God”, but this article is relevant for all because it’s really about wishing and hoping for the best for others instead of always focusing on ourselves. Today, religion is highly divisive, given the way it continues to be weaponized against people who have different beliefs, but I think what we can all agree on is that the world needs more love and empathy. 

We live in a time where it’s easy to become consumed by our own experience. Our stress, our responsibilities, our uncertainty. And to be clear, much of that is real. Life asks a lot of us.

But when our attention becomes exclusively inward, something begins to narrow. We lose sight of the fact that everyone around us is carrying something, too. The person next to you is navigating a story you don’t fully see. The person you disagree with is shaped by experiences you may never understand. The person who seems “fine” may be holding more than they can express.

Empathy begins with remembering that.

The original article invites us to consider a simple but powerful shift: what if our hopes, our intentions, our quiet moments of reflection weren’t only about improving our own lives? What if they also included others? You don’t need formal practice to do this.

You can pause, even for a moment, and extend a silent wish:  

May they be safe.  

May they find support.  

May they experience some ease.

No one else has to know, but something changes when you do build this awareness. Your attention softens, your perspective widens, and your sense of separation begins to loosen. This doesn’t mean you ignore your own needs. It doesn’t mean you bypass your own pain. It simply means you’re no longer alone at the center of everything.

That shift matters most in a world that often feels divided by belief, identity, politics, and fear. Empathy only requires a willingness to recognize the humanity in someone else. And like anything, it deepens with practice. There will be moments when it feels natural and moments when it feels nearly impossible. Both are part of the process, but if you stay with it, something begins to ripple outward.

Because when you begin to hold others in your awareness, even quietly, you’re participating in something larger. Not through belief, but through presence.

And in that space, empathy becomes more than a feeling.

It becomes a way of being.