The Power of Empathy, Sympathy and the Seeds of Greatness

Empathy makes a person big. In contrast, self centeredness makes a person small. Empathy makes a man other- centered. Developing empathy allows you to project into the consciousness and experiences of the other person. The essence of empathy to put yourself in another person's shoes and experience what the other is thinking or feeling.

The definition of empathy is that of the ability to recognize, perceive and directly feel the emotion another is feeling. When you have empathy for another, you may often be able to more effectively feel and appreciate the other's thoughts and moods. This is the essence of true communication and emotional resonance.

Sympathy on the other hand, mirrors another man's trouble. Words of sympathy, words of comfort, reflect a sort of emotional affinity in which you are affected correspondingly. To sympathize means to suffer together and hence you are also affected by the other persons' feelings or emotion.

Empathy- goes beyond sympathy. Empathy discovers the causes of the trouble with the understanding and insight. Through empathy you come to appreciate another people's feelings, yet without becoming so emotionally involved that your judgment is affected. The Sioux Indians have captured empathy's essence when they prayed " Great spirit, help us never to judge another until we have walked for two weeks in his moccasins."

Through empathy a man may closely identify himself with anyone he wishes to understand. Through the power of his imagination empathy enables him to project into the consciousness of others that he may know how they think and how they feel.

The practice of empathy will greatly enhance relationships and create understanding, resonance and harmony. An example of empathy in practice can be the following: a father can play the role of his son and the son can play the part of the father for a day, an hour or even for 5 minutes. Or the husband playing the role of the wife and vice versa. Or a friend understanding that of the other person. Each will learn to appreciate and know the feelings of the other.

Another way to show empathy is that of giving an empathy response. Empathy responses are ways showing the other person that that we understand and can relate to their situation, particularly on an emotional level. It's effectiveness depends on the extent to which we can show the other person that we do understand.

You may have heard of Empathy Statements. These statements serve to clarify and to reinforce. In rephrasing what the other person is saying, one is clarifying what you hear is correct. A typical empathy statement contains 2 parts – one part that labels the feeling, and a second part that lets the person know that you understand why he's feeling that way. For example, an empathy statement can go like this " I can understand (or I realize, I guess, I see) that you feel because_______."

An empathy statement conveys to the other person that you have been listening to what he is saying. But in focusing primarily on how the other person is feeling, rather than simply on the information he is expressing, it lets him know that even though he is frustrated, angry or misunderstood, he knows that he is not alone: somebody else understands. It allows a defusing the negative feelings. It is the first step to being validated, understood. This paves the way to inner healing involvement towards resolving the situation.

In emotion-focused therapy, hurt or problem people are allows to identify and label their feelings. Empathizing and reflecting their feelings is a way to provide a sense of safety in the person can identify, label, and learn to express these feelings appropriately and heal their emotional hurt..

Empathy allows you to develop a deep comprehension for the problems of the other, especially the suffering, the defeated. It brings out and validates their suffering, the sorrowing. Empathy inspires. It paves the way for further development and compassion, allow for healing, tolerance, and forgiveness.

Empathy is essential. Empathy makes you great as a human being. Empathy allows you to become all men under all conditions. Empathy is the key to leadership. It unlocks the dreams in the hearts of men so the leader can help to make those dreams come true. Empathy is a bigness of heart , that allows one human being to touch another in the deepest and truest sense of the word. It is the foundational basis for showing compassion and further acts of kindness.

In essence, develop empathy.

Practice walking in another's moccasins.

Feel different.

Touch lives more deeply.

Your influence will be real and very appreciated.

Your greatness will be felt in a deep way.

So much that you may never be able to fathom the extent of your influence both in depth and breath and height – all because you have shown empathy for another human being - and created a positive change in his life.