the importance of empathy we all live in our own version of reality a reality

that is limited by our senses our temperament and our own experiences it

is the only reality we will ever truly know but it is crucial to our personal

development our relationships and to society itself that we make the effort

to try and experience other people's realities as well this is done through

empathy simply stated empathy is an active attempt to understand another

person's perspective their emotions and in essence their reality we are social

animals and our ability to communicate and understand each other's emotional

states is key to maintaining our relationships so it is little wonder

that the ability to empathize is hardwired directly into our brains one

area that assists in this process is the right super marginal gyrus which helps

us to distinguish our own emotional state from that of another person and

plays a key role in our ability to observe and assess what other people are

experiencing studies from neuron science journals suggest that we have systems of

mirror neurons in our brains that cause us to mimic the actions of others that
is why when we see someone yawn we will often mian and reply and when we observe

someone experiencing joy or cone we experience the same sensation to a

certain extent but these reactions are primarily driven by subconscious

reflexes in order to be truly empathic you have to actively think beyond

yourself and your own concerns you can develop this empathic skill by

practicing some simple habits the observant of others we tend to spend the

majority of our day dwelling on ourselves caught up in our own daily

routines and digital distractions but taking the time to observe others around

you is a good first step in developing your empathy watch and wonder try to

focus on the person state of Being rather than categorizing or labeling

them ask yourself what kind of day are they having how are they feeling

challenge yourself to genuinely care about their well-being curiosity about

others is the first step to expanding your empathy use active listening during

a conversation especially a heated one most people formulate the response

before the other person even finishes their statement this form of

communication is more verbal combat than an exchange of ideas or opinions avoid

this reflex by slowing down rather than rushing to reply take a moment to

consider the other person's statements ask follow-up questions to better

understand with a speaker intended try to

understand their emotional state and the deeper motivations behind the statement

what life experiences led them to their current worldview remember you don't

need to share someone's opinion in order to understand it and acknowledge it and

listening will help inform and expand your own opinion open up learning more

about other people's experiences is a key element to seeing the world through

someone else's eyes but it is also important to open up about your own

feelings and experiences empathy is a two-way street that at best is built

upon mutual understanding through a combination of uncovering the deeper

motivations of someone else's position and expressing our own underlying

concerns we often discover a shared commonality even with those who hold
different beliefs than ours through the practice of keeping an open mind empathy

helps us challenge prejudice find commonality and expand our moral

universe without it we are apt to label people outside our circle as the other

the problem or the enemy these labels draw lines in the sand that prevent us

from moving forward or growing it cuts us off from the realization that the

human experience is a shared experience we have much more in common than we

think and are really just seeing small variations of the same reality.