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. …
Tag: empathy
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…
Listening To Be Heard
If we want people to listen to us, we should begin by first listening to them. People tend to listen better when they feel heard. When they do not feel heard, they often become deaf to what we have to say. Why shouldn’t they? If we are unwilling to listen to them, why should they…
Empathy And Companionship
Quite often, when someone else is suffering, we assume they need what we would need if we were in the same situation. However, we all deal with suffering differently. We all need different things, at least on a superficial level, when we are struggling with life’s difficulties. But, deep down, we all want to know…
Expansive Adversity
Adversity has the potential to give us empathy. If we allow it to, it can help us to see the world in a whole new light. Experiencing our own fragility and vulnerability helps us to see how fragile and vulnerable others are. This experience, if we are conscious enough and willing enough, can actually increase…