Before getting upset with someone who we perceive to have wronged us, we should ask ourselves if we would have behaved the way they had if we were in their position. It is easy to criticize others for the decisions they make or the stances they take. But their circumstances may have given them no…
Tag: empathy
Empathetic Boundaries
We can empathize with others without being moved to act. Not all problems require a solution. In fact, not all problems have a solution. Some problems are simply problems. Even if a solution is available, however, our intervention is not always necessary, advisable, or even desirable. There are times when merely feeling for someone is…
Relating To Our Needs
If we are willing to listen, people will tell us what they need from us. Their needs are often quite different from their wants. Wants are much easier to express, but they tend to be superficial manifestations of our needs. Needs run deep and they are usually buried far beneath the distractions of daily life,…
A Cycle Of Healing
No matter how we feel, we do not have the right to hurt others in order to make ourselves feel better. We cannot improve our emotional, psychological, or spiritual state by destroying someone else’s. Hurt does not fix hurt. Doing someone else harm does not take away our pain. It does not heal our injuries. …
Respecting Our Emotional Limitations
Life is difficult enough on its own without our taking on other people’s emotional challenges as our own. We need boundaries. This is not easy, however, if we are naturally empathetic. That is, if our own emotional natures tend to be porous, we will find ourselves easily influenced by feelings, both positive and negative, of…