Why Empathy Matters

Written By Colēgia

Empathy is a quality that can have a long lasting impact on our lives. Some people are naturally more empathetic and caring towards others which can help you relate easier. There are many reasons why empathy matters and we're here to cover them.

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Defining Empathy

Understanding empathy is key in knowing how to work on it. It can be defined as “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” Simply put, it lets us feel what it's like to step in someone else's shoes. When we lack this, it can be hard to see how others may feel in regard to certain situations. On the opposite side, too much empathy can overwhelm us with emotions and prevent us from functioning properly in a stressful situation. As a concept, how empathetic we feel is relative with a combination of our upbringing along with many other factors such as socioeconomic status and genetics. As a social skill, the earlier this is taught the easier it is to integrate in other aspects in life. With that in mind, we can still find ways to improve this through various activities.

“It can be defined as: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.”

Ways to Improve our Empathy

One of the more common ways to hone our means of relating with others is reading. Reading gives you insight into the minds of the characters and lets you see the world with their perspective. This is great as it gives us a safe space to envision how others feel while also giving us insight into our own lives. Seeing someone else struggle with a similar situation as us can make us feel that we aren't alone with our dilemmas and make us feel more connected. Writing about characters can also be a good means of this as we get to craft situations where we can see how they would handle them. We can give them similar qualities to us but make them stand out enough to give us a way to relate to others. Another helpful way to practice empathy is to simply talk to people. Something as simple as asking where they're from or why they want to pursue a certain job can give you context as to who they are. Working together with people on shared projects is another helpful way to practice empathy as it places you with people from all walks of life.

“Reading gives you insight into the minds of the characters and lets you see the world with their perspective.”

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Understanding Others is Key Life Skill

Many of us will need to communicate with others in some manner or form. Whether this is through email, text, or by verbally talking, it matters. While it can be easy to interpret things from only our own point of view, it can be easily misconstrued. When we are able to see how someone else is expressing their thoughts along with their perspective included, we can more easily find an accurate meaning to the words behind the person. While this is easier with those we've known for longer, properly understanding how someone else may be feeling can help you make new friends along with making people feel valued. Everyone wants to feel that they matter along with being heard and empathy is one of the best ways to do that.

Colēgia

Colēgia

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