“Demonstrating Empathy: Understanding the Challenges and How to Overcome Them”
“Have some Empathy for others” is a phrase thrown around quite arbitrarily these days to the point where it makes you curious about; What is Empathy?
Empathy, if you go by a book definition, is the ability to understand the feelings of others and their concerns.
It is to visualize life from the perspectives of others, to feel how they feel about something. It is to accept that everyone is different from others and has different opinions, thoughts, and ideas about this ever-changing world.
Now you will think; that I do understand the feelings of others; Thoughts would storm your mind that maybe you aren’t sure about some stranger’s feelings; you at least understand what your loved ones are feeling. Let me burst this illusion bubble for you; you don’t. Human emotions and feelings are such an entangled web that we cannot understand these easily.
Let me ask you a question, do you understand your feelings?
It’s a question we all face at some point in our lives: do we understand our feelings? We like to think that we can, but often, we can’t explain why we feel the way we do. We may even second-guess ourselves, wondering if our feelings are valid. The truth is our emotions can be complicated and confusing, like an entangled web. We may feel one way at the moment, but then something happens that makes us second-guess our initial reaction. Expressing our emotions can be challenging as they can be ever-changing and hard to comprehend.
This lack of self-awareness is one of the main reasons why it is so hard to empathize with people today. We are so occupied in our own life, its entanglements, and adversaries that we don’t have time or tools to understand ourselves, much less the others. We cannot comprehend what we feel ourselves, so to assume that you know others is an illusion.
It’s important to remember that there is no right or wrong way to feel. Everyone experiences emotions differently; how we deal with and express our feelings matters. Understanding our emotions is an integral part of being emotionally healthy. And it is by understanding ourselves we can help us communicate and empathize better with others.
Empathy is a challenging task because feeling the sadness and pain of someone alongside them is a mountainous task, especially in the present time when everyone is busy tackling their pain and fears. As a human, we are wired to avoid pain and disturbing feelings. So, understanding someone else pov is nothing small than a challenge.
What does it mean to empathize?
Empathy is difficult as we do not possess all the details required to comprehend, understand, envisage and even feel what the other individual feels. Whatever a person experience is only visible to that person. Empathizing does not mean resolving their dilemmas; a complete understanding of the issue is often lacking. It means listening and being conscious of what the other person wishes to portray. Instead of answering, empathy involves creating a connection — putting yourself in the other’s situation to demonstrate that they are not alone during this arduous period and you are concerned about their plight.
As it is said, human connections are vital pillars supporting this building we name Happiness. Empathy is a crucial building block to building these connections and support.
