Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
Empathy — One of the warmest soft skills.
Do you remember the stress and the pressure you were experiencing during your school finals in the previous weeks? Let us be the bearers of good news: the struggle is officially over! It’s summertime… holiday time!
Time for road trips, parties, and well-deserved relaxation on the beach! Woo-hoo! Let’s go!
Well… actually, there is one last nerve-racking stop before we hit the road: the final results of your exams. And things didn’t go according to plan. Unfortunately, that difficult Physic Law was never explained correctly. Oh, you, Newton, and those stupid apple trees!
You feel overwhelmed and disappointed. After all the effort you put in, you didn’t perform as well as you wanted. Two professors of yours, Professor X and Professor Y (silly math joke) have heard the news and approach you… Let’s hear what they have to say about your grades;
Professor X
“Come on, why the long face? It is not a big deal, you can try again next year. Now it is summer, you can enjoy your time with friends, relax and worry about nothing! I really can not understand why Generation Z is always stressed”.
While you are sitting there, wondering why no one understands you — and why Generation X is totally out of space, professor Y calmly approaches.
Professor Y
“ Hey, I just heard the news. I know how much you wanted to succeed in this exam and I remember explicitly how hard you tried. I am sorry this is so discouraging to you right now. I know it feels like no one understands, but I’m listening right now, if you need someone to talk to.”
…And faith in humanity is restored. Not all older people are indifferent.
Can you guess what is the difference between the two professors? One simple word. Empathy.
Empathy is an interpersonal skill that can be viewed as part of Emotional Intelligence. It is the soft skill of recognizing, understanding, and sharing the thoughts and feelings of another person, animal, or fictional character. Deep connections and compassionate relationships can be established by developing this skill.
Yes, it is true that some people are more empathetic than others; yet, that doesn’t seem to be a problem, as research has shown that anyone can increase their empathy. Therefore, nothing ends in childhood. We can nurture its growth throughout our lives via life-long learning.
Sympathy, compassion, and empathy.
A common misconception is that empathy, sympathy, and compassion are pretty much the same. Guess what! They are not!
Sympathy can be described as a feeling of concern for someone else and a desire to see them happier. Professor X surely did not have any bad feelings towards you. Professor X understood what was happening, not how you felt, and wanted you to be happier- therefore showed some signs of sympathy.
Compassion is an empathetic understanding of a person’s feelings accompanied by altruism, or a desire to act on that person’s behalf.
Empathy involves sharing the other person’s emotions. Stepping into their shoes.
Time for tips!
For our parents/readers out there, wondering how to be more empathetic and enhance this skill both for themselves and their children, below you will find a few useful tips. Enjoy!
- During a significant family event, for example, a plan not coming through, or a vacation cancellation you can share and explain your own emotions to your children.
- Then you can also discuss the emotions of the children while pointing out the connection between events and emotions.
- Modeling- showing kids how to perform with empathy while describing each step with a rationale, providing them with both a visual and verbal example of what they can actually do- is a great and effective way to enhance empathy in the family.
- You can prompt empathy by asking your children questions related to the feelings of others, such as “How do you think your sister felt when she didn’t perform well in her school exams?”
- There are also great books and short films on Empathy. You can add them to the mix of quality time and take it from there…
- Remember to always praise children when showing empathy.
Last, but not least; you can always sign up your child for a Morphoses class that is all about Empathy. Leave the rest to us!
