Celebrating Women's Equality Day with Dr. Edith Eger

Conversations that truly change our attitudes — and ultimately our lives — are few and far between. I was honored to participate in one this week.

As part of our celebrations for Women’s Equality Day, T-Mobile's Women & Allies Network (WAN) invited Dr. Edith Eva Eger to speak with us. “Dr. Edie,” as she’s known to her patients, will turn 95 next month (and by the way, she’s not slowing down a bit). She’s a practicing psychologist, motivational speaker and successful author.

She’s also a Holocaust survivor.

Dr. Edie is an incredibly bright, inspiring and captivating spirit, despite the horrific atrocities and devastation she lived through at Auschwitz. She shared her journey of healing and acceptance in the decades after the Holocaust, and how she approaches challenges in everyday life.

We get to decide each day how the day will go, she said. We control our own attitudes. Just like her mother used to tell her, “We don’t know where we’re going.?We don’t know what’s going to happen.?Just remember, no one can take away from you what you put in your own mind.”

As Dr. Edie reminded us, we can all be courageous because we have the tools we need. “It’s not what you get from life, but what you can give. There won’t be another you.”

To live through the Holocaust is one thing, but to turn that awful suffering and dark stain on history into wisdom that helps so many is quite another. She believes that people must feel their pain in order to heal. “There is no forgiveness without rage. What comes out of your body doesn’t make you ill … what stays in there does.”

I admire the strength she found to contribute to the world, rather than focusing on the pain from her childhood. She said, “Our painful experiences aren’t a liability — they’re a gift. They give us perspective and meaning, an opportunity to find our unique purpose and our strength.”

Our WAN members were sharing their favorite quotes from Dr. Edie in real time on the Employee Resource Group's Slack channel. This one still has me smiling: “Don’t cover garlic with chocolate. It doesn’t taste good.”