Coffee Corner Post-Mortem: When Empathizing is Difficult

Thanks to every who attended this past coffee corner! 🙂

What I talked about is echoed in this recent interview I did:

If you wish to explore deeper, check out Realizing Empathy

Above all, there will be days when people will judge you as “lacking empathy.”

I want you to know that that in all likelihood, you don’t actually lack empathy.

You probably have empathy, except you’re either missing key information or your experiencing tension. Both make the empathy you have hard to realize.

If you’re experiencing significant tension, I hope you have access to adequate support that can help you release your tension.

The kind of support that…

1. Makes you feel empathized.
2. Doesn’t have a stake in the relationship in which you’re experiencing difficulty.
3. Doesn’t require you to jump through hoops to get access.
4. Can help you realize empathy such that you can see yourself, others, and your situations in a significantly new way so you can make progress in your situation.

#1 is particularly important. I would call it the “put on your own oxygen mask first” principle.

May you stay beautiful!

slim