Kindness, empathy, and selflessness. My mother, a soon-to-be 62 year-old nurse who suffers from diabetes and has had knee replacement surgery, has always left her pain and troubles outside of the workplace. In their place, she fills those "voids" with kindness and empathy for her patients. Why? Although she is constantly in pain and has her own health issues, my mother has always operated under the belief that the people she helps may be in more pain than she suffers; may suffer from a terminal illness; or may have a loved one suffering from a terminal illness. Her ability to display kindness and empathy -- when, under many circumstances she would be on the receiving end of the two -- is, in a word, selfless.