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What Does Empathy Mean To You Essay

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There are certain items a woman knows she needs in her wardrobe of life skills: ambition, independence, fearlessness, self-belief, a sense of fun. But she will get more 'wear' out of these if she also has empathy - a classic that should never go out of fashion.

Empathy is the ability to understand and share what somebody else is feeling. You hear a woman sobbing on the phone to her ex-boyfriend and recall the ghastly break-up that had you in tears for months. Or you see refugees on TV and, having been robbed and left stranded at Madrid Airport with no money for food, you have an inkling of their fear and desperation.

If you don't have Time to Acknowledge your own Feelings, How can you Recognize them in Someone Else?

Empathy differs from sympathy ('Poor you; I wish you could feel happier') and compassion (Things are tough for you; you seem to need help'). Simply put, empathy is, 'I know how you feel'. Psychologists note that we …show more content…

We bristle at the slightest inconvenience, sigh at slow cashiers or vent our rage in banks. This as a growing trend caused by our fast-paced lifestyles in overcrowded cities. We're so stressed that we lose the time and space to reflect on how we're feeling. Also, if we feel we're not being heard, we say nothing. Feelings build up over time and express themselves as, say, road rage. If you don't have time to acknowledge your own feelings, how can you recognize them in someone else?

Barack Obama told students at Southern New Hampshire University that the first lesson of growing up is this: 'the world doesn't revolve around you. There's a lot of talk in this country about the federal deficit,' he said. 'But I think we should talk more about our empathy deficit - the ability to put ourselves in someone else's shoes; to see the world through those who are different from us - the child who's hungry, the laid-off steelworker, the immigrant woman cleaning your dorm

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