Empathy is a Quality that is Necessary to Make a Change in Yourself and Others
What does having empathy really mean? The Merriam Webster dictionary defines empathy as “the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another.” Empathy is such an important quality to have. Many of the problems we face in every aspect of our lives could be made better if we worked on having empathy for others. This world has so many different races and cultures, and we sometimes don’t take the time to understand others from their perspective. We all have different experiences in life. Our journey through life is very different from others. This is why it is important to not judge others or lump one group of people into a box. Showing some level of compassion is a human quality that everyone should want to show for people that may have suffered much more than you have. They may have had different obstacles that prevented them from succeeding as you have.
Listening to others stories or even researching different races and cultures can give you a better understanding of their feelings about various subjects that affect this society. Empathy is needed in your personal relationships as well. You have to realize that everybody doesn’t see things the way you do. If you take the example of all of the dissension we are all seeing in the world today. Some of that is due to people not taking the time to listen and understand the plight and history of others. I don’t think this world can be fixed until people work on having a level of understanding and compassion for others. If we stay staunch that our beliefs are right, and everyone else is wrong, we will never fix the problems that exist in this world. At the end of the day, we all just want to get through life being accepted and respected. The lack of empathy is showing to be so crystal clear in areas around the world, and in my opinion, it’s people not caring enough about others that is the problem. I encourage people to take a look at yourself, and ask yourself if you lack empathy for others? Do you take the initiative to relate to people of different races and cultures? Do you show the level of empathy you should for people in your own personal life?
If we all could commit to working on having empathy and compassion for others, we could all be much happier people, and create a more peaceful society for everyone.
Humans aren't as good as we should be in our capacity to empathize with feelings and thoughts of others, be they humans or other animals on Earth. So maybe part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, that were 'reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy.'
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Sources:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empathy
Listening to others stories or even researching different races and cultures can give you a better understanding of their feelings about various subjects that affect this society. Empathy is needed in your personal relationships as well. You have to realize that everybody doesn’t see things the way you do. If you take the example of all of the dissension we are all seeing in the world today. Some of that is due to people not taking the time to listen and understand the plight and history of others. I don’t think this world can be fixed until people work on having a level of understanding and compassion for others. If we stay staunch that our beliefs are right, and everyone else is wrong, we will never fix the problems that exist in this world. At the end of the day, we all just want to get through life being accepted and respected. The lack of empathy is showing to be so crystal clear in areas around the world, and in my opinion, it’s people not caring enough about others that is the problem. I encourage people to take a look at yourself, and ask yourself if you lack empathy for others? Do you take the initiative to relate to people of different races and cultures? Do you show the level of empathy you should for people in your own personal life?
If we all could commit to working on having empathy and compassion for others, we could all be much happier people, and create a more peaceful society for everyone.
Humans aren't as good as we should be in our capacity to empathize with feelings and thoughts of others, be they humans or other animals on Earth. So maybe part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, that were 'reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy.'
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Sources:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empathy