Empathy: The New Superpower

Are we waiting for someone to do something great to change the world? Does changing the world seem like such a monumental task that our small contributions won’t make a difference? Maybe great things come from small deeds.

What if we all have something to contribute? What if what we have can’t be seen instead can be felt or experienced? What if the ripple effect from this small deed changed how we treated each other?

Picture a world where we feel connection to each other:

We would understand that we are one and that connection is crucial to our well-being.

We would be aware of other’s needs.

We would honor our own and everyone else’s journey by not making judgments or assumptions.

We would find purpose in everyday contact with others.

At our core we all have a need for belonging, to feel valued, heard, and understood.

I believe practicing empathy is a way to evolve into a more caring, loving world and give us the connection we long for.

What is empathy? Empathy is the ability to see someone’s situation and not judge them. We make judgments based on race, religion, economic status, looks, physical abilities and so many other things. These judgments about each other cause separation. Empathy is being able to relate to the emotions that someone is having even when we can’t relate to their circumstances, their story, or their past. The emotion someone has around their circumstances may be the only thing we can understand about what they’re going through. We can practice empathy in the acceptance that we all have emotions and express them differently in our unique stories.

It can be difficult to understand where someone is coming from when we see things differently. There are situations we can’t understand because we haven’t experienced them and think we never will. We can understand the emotion a person has. We can relate to being sad, happy, feeling alone, lost, angry, fearful or overwhelmed.

We don’t have to agree with someone to extend empathy. It doesn’t mean we think they’re right it just means we don’t judge them. We don’t have to know the right thing to say to someone or feel bad for them. Words are not always necessary to extend empathy. Sometimes a smile or a nod is all it takes to make someone feel seen, understood, or valued. What if the next time we see a mom struggling with her kids we remember what it’s like when we felt overwhelmed. Instead of giving her a look of disapproval and judging her for not doing what we think she should do we give her a smile or a look that says we understand. People can feel empathy and understanding or judging and disapproval.

What we put out into the world causes a ripple effect. What do you want to share? With practice and awareness empathy can become our natural response. I believe empathy is as contagious and can spread as quickly as judgment and hate. When we change the world changes.

When we change the world changes.

When we change the world changes.