Choosing Compassion and Empathy in a World That Feels Divided

Let’s talk human empathy and compassion. Empathy is the ability to share and understand the feelings of another. Compassion is taking it just one step further, it’s the willingness to take action to help reduce that suffering. 

These concepts are easily misunderstood and often confused with one another. It often feels like empathy and compassion are becoming harder to find, especially in moments when we need them most. 

Compassion and empathy are crucial to everyday life. Being able to not only understand how someone is feeling but take action to reduce their struggles is difficult, but it is critical to the world we live in. These traits build trust and create deeper bonds between people. 

So, when did people stop practicing empathy and compassion?

That seems to be a question I ask myself more frequently than ever. The state of the world right now feels overwhelming. Regardless of political beliefs, if what’s happening right now doesn’t make us pause, feel discomfort, or question our own reactions it’s worth asking why. 

If we can look at these situations without feeling anything, then maybe empathy is something we need to consciously practice again. This may upset some people, but it’s something we all need to hear. 

A lack of compassion and empathy only adds fuel to the fire. While everyone has the capacity for both, it’s a choice whether or not we use them and more often than not we tend to choose to not use them.

Empathy and compassion don’t just shape the world around us; they shape the relationships we build and have every day. 

Being able to sit down with someone and truly understand how they’re feeling to help them work through their struggles is becoming increasingly rare. Many relationships fail because people cannot understand one another and try to help each other. Not just romantically but also in a friendly way. Having the ability to truly understand one another and being able to reduce the struggle and not add to it is huge. Being able to create solutions instead of becoming part of the struggle is critical to healthy relationships, yet it’s something we often forget. 

Human empathy and compassion are not only important for just relationships or the state of the world, but it is also essential to both.  Empathy and compassion are traits every person has, but in a world that moves fast and feels divided, choosing to use them takes intention. 

• #compassion
• #Empathy
• relationships