What is empathy?
Empathy is the ability to understand things from another person’s perspective. It’s the ability to share someone else’s feelings and emotions and understand why they’re having those feelings. When you see another person suffering, you might be able to instantly visualize yourself in the other person’s place and feel sympathy for what they are going through. By cultivating the ability to metaphorically stand in another’s shoes and feel what it is like there, we develop a connection, which is essential to our survival. Only when you feel empathic towards someone you’ll feel the need to help and that’s how you show kindness. Without kindness, the works would have come to end a long time ago.
What if we don’t empathize?
The failure to empathize is, in fact, a crucial part of most social problems, including crime, violence, racism and abuse. It causes communications, relationships and organizations to break down; whereas empathy promotes health, intelligence and cooperative productivity. It is required for almost everything that makes society function.
Why is empathy important to our wellbeing?
Empathy is an extremely significant aspect of our daily lives. This is because it enables us to show compassion, tolerance and kindness to other people, it helps us to relate to our friends, loved ones, colleagues and even strangers, hence impacting the world positively and making the world a better place to reside.
Humans are social animals, we require the constant need of being connected to other humans. Some of the most agonizing pain in life is often due to a loss, abuse or disconnect in the relationship. And to handle and maintain these relations it is necessary to practice empathy.
Another important reason to practice empathy is the karma or the theory of what goes around comes around. If you empathise with someone in trouble and help them when they need or just be nice to them when they are feeling down, there will times when you’ll be in a similar situation and someone will be there for you to empathise with you and help you. Only if you give you will receive and that’s the theory of nature.
How to develop empathy?
– Always be ready to help others in need
– Consider another person’s perspective before passing the judgement
– Have a real conversation with your near and dear ones
– Introspect yourself and accept yourself with all your flaws this will help you develop humility and empathy for people with imperfections.
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