We all have empathy stored within our essence, but we often don't understand what it means, so we don't know when we practice it or when we are not aware of how important it is to put it in our life.
What is the real meaning of empathy?
Well, empathy is nothing more, nothing less than the ability of a person to put himself in another's place. In this way, this person can understand and respect the feelings of others.
To understand even more what empathy is, the person who has it is able to abandon the egocentric side of his essence and live the pain of the other with him. This attitude is made so that one can understand the vision of others, taking generosity and a great pinch of tolerance. Contrary to what you might think, being an empathetic person is not as simple as it seems. People who have very egocentric traits usually believe that people's ideas and concepts should be the same as theirs. And it is precisely this factor that prevents a person from being empathetic.
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Empathy is a fundamental factor for every human being. That's why it's not only interesting to acquire, but necessary for things to work. A person who is apathetic, that is, who lacks empathy, does not show feelings and emotions. As we all know, the lack of kindness and the act of putting yourself in the other's shoes can disrupt many areas of life.
At work, understanding what empathy is is essential to getting along with colleagues, because the professional environment is a place where we live where we live wrong and right, so any bad word or any lack of understanding can end the career. of a professional.
Depression and other illnesses are often caused by relationships between people. Therefore, both in the workplace and elsewhere, empathy must always be present. The same happens between affective relationships and family members. If people do not practice empathy, they will hardly have fortified and healthy bonds with others, in addition to a life full of frustrations with themselves.
The benefits that empathy brings us:
Being empathetic isn't just beautiful. It is, in fact, an attitude that causes many good things in our lives. Among the great benefits of empathy are:
- Strengthening the connection between people;
- Helps in understanding situations in different areas of life;
- Improves the harmony of the environment, leaving everything full of good energies;
- Develops trust in relationships;
- Ajuda to aprender a ser paciente, generous and tolerant;
- Assists in the completion of objectives and goals;
- Helps to preview problems in order to avoid them;
- And much more.
Some examples of empathic attitudes:
You know when a friend calls you and starts crying because they broke up and misses the person? The act of listening to him and trying to feel his pain to give the best advice possible is an empathic act.
Another simple example, this one in an affective relationship. You went out with some friends to eat and you didn't tell your date, so he was upset with your attitude. A person who has empathy will try to look at the situation through the eyes of his partner, apologize and try his best not to make a mistake again. And in relation to work, we also have a situation to demonstrate what empathy is. Suppose you made a mistake in the accounting of a service and your boss was very angry.
In this case, he might be more understanding, but if he isn't, you can say, “I'm sorry. I can put myself in his place and understand the gravity of my mistake”. This phrase can save your job!
Did you understand what empathy is? Even if people don't put it into practice, if we do, we can already consider ourselves people ready to cause peace in the world.
antonym of empathy
When we look for the opposite of empathy in dictionaries and search engines, there is nothing that is so certain and concrete. However, the little that we found defines as antonyms words such as “strangeness”, “distance”, “indifference”, “repulsion” and even “contempt”.
When reflecting on these definitions, it is possible to find meaning in the choice of each one of them. After all, if empathy is the ability that people have to put themselves in the place of others, respecting their feelings and better understanding the pain of their respective stories, the opposite of that is precisely the distance and indifference towards others.
It is not surprising that many still live these antonyms as absolute truths, abandoning their fellow men and looking at their lives as the only existing realities. People like that are those who let the ego speak louder than any other circumstance that appears before their eyes, who understand that the bubble they live in is the only one that is valid and that each and every idea must be equal to the one they have. . In other words, everything that is different from that has no value.
How many of us act in this irreducible way even with those who are part of our life? And around the world, how many prefer to see human beings with the eyes of the heart, instead of seeing them with the eyes of judgment? It's much easier to point fingers rather than develop your empathetic, thinking side. It is much easier to repeat patterns that create barriers with people than connections that can be positive for both sides.
It needs to change. It is necessary to put aside indifference, contempt and repulsion for what is different from what we are used to feeling, being and experiencing. It is essential to be even more welcoming when what comes from outside does not maintain the same standard as we imagined, because only then will we be able to improve the harmony of our exchanges, be more patient and tolerant. Everything is reflected in who we are and in the world we live in. Want to make things better? Want to be more understood? Open yourself to what is in front of your eyes with an open chest.
