EMPATHY: CURE OR CURSE?

I wonder, in a world like ours, is empathy a cure or a curse? Is it a strength or a weakness?

Do you see other perspectives?

Empathy describes to what degree you can see things through someone elses eyes. Are you able to understand their point of view, their perspective and the way the situation affects them?

A highly empathic person reacts to their friends parents dying with understanding and might even take on their emotions like sadness or grief. A less empathetic person might see that their friend is sad but not really feel anything.

Is empathy only for the weak?

Many may see empathy as being overly emotional and therefore consider it as a weakness. It is often thought of as a feminine trait and considered soft and weak. In a society like ours it might seem to be a disadvantage but is it really?
Wouldn’t our world be less cruel if we all were a bit more empathetic?

Empathy as a strength

In reality, empathy is a valueable strength. The ability to see things from the perspective of others can bring great benefits to your life and the world in general. You tend to be nicer to people and have greater understanding of what others might go through. This means you can also influence them more easily, provide better services or products for others and generally have more understanding of how humans work and operate.

Face your inner world

It takes a lot of strength to face your own feelings and most people bury or try to surpress emotions altogether. Of course I have to mention toxic masculinity here as well. Letting yourself feel things and openly sharing emotions is human, completely normal and totaly fine. Don’t let people tell you otherwise.

Being vunerable, open and authentic is a strength not many people master.

Is empathy the cure?

I believe that many problems we face today could be solved tomorrow if humans were more empathetic towards each other. It teaches us to more acceptance of others which leads us to a better world with less unnecessary conflict. We would be less judging and more understanding. Emotional intelligence is much needed in our current society.

Think about a time you could have showed more empathy to another person. What are your thoughts on this topic?