My Empathy

Always being in the acquaintance of friends and family, it was a challenging environment for me to share and live with new people with contradicting behaviours and personalities. One of my strength has always been empathy. Little did I know I hadn't been pushed to my limits. Being with extremely contradicting people, it was a challenge for me to empathize their behaviour. I have been living with two flatmates from the same home country. Initially I was grateful for having an opportunity to live with my home people. However, the difference in background and thought process was not an easy start. As days passed, I realized that the situation is more tricky as I was to live with a couple who had constant fights and arguments and had to play a role of the conflict resolver by empathy. The constant watching and listening of negative emotions and fights in my flat was draining my mental energy. I decided to do something about it and spoke to each of them personally, acknowledged their pain, showed gratitude for opening up and shared how I felt and affected me. Having a conversation with them individually it guided me to accurately experience the opposite person’s internal world, emotional pain, and inner conflicts. I knew I could not change the situation or stop it but I could change my mindset and choose how to react to such situations.

Empathy was a significant talent to use in my situation which helped me how others are feeling so I could respond appropriately to the situation. I had a roller coaster life with some intensely bad experiences and situations back in my life which inclined my interest to know further about human emotions and psychology. Thus, improving listening skills and reading others. The more you understand human behaviour and psychology the more you get a better understanding of the opposite person’s actions and behaviours which would seem justified and forgivable. I tried to analyse what is making that person behave a certain way or say certain things. Its only when we come to know a person’s point of view, their internal drives, and their emotional tendencies, can we truly understand them at a deep enough level for empathy to arise. Without empathy, there can be no understanding, and without understanding, we dont ever truly know the people we interact with.

This subsequently helps you to connect and relate to people at a deeper level, which naturally helps you form tighter bonds and build lasting relationships. With higher levels of rapport, there is more trust between you and the other person. As a result, there is a greater level of harmony, which helps you resolve conflict and disagreements far more quickly and readily.

Through my talent of empathy I am aiming to develop my problem solving strength and interpersonal skills. Another way through which I could develop this talent towards strength is through feedback. Feedback is a valuable way to drive myself towards great work in my career.