"The true meaning of empathy..."

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✌️ #mindfulnessmonday ✌️ ⠀ "True empathy means you believe in another person’s story" ⠀ Our biggest misconception when thinking of empathy is that we must see the world through another’s perspective. As individuals, we see the world through a lens that has been created by our experiences with age, race, religion, family, society, ability etc etc. We cannot magically take this lens off as it is “soldered to our faces.” The more you are in the majority versus the minority of a society, the more you tend to think that your lens is true and correct. So as you can see, it is impossible for us to take off our lens and pick up another’s. ⠀ The question then becomes how do we truly express empathy and appreciate another’s perspective when ours is always so prevalent? The answer is we believe in another person’s story as they tell it to us. We believe in the pain they faced and the experiences they went through that created the lens in which they see things through. We believe it is just as meaningful as the lens you see your world through. You can have your own opinion, but you cannot dismiss what other people believe is true. When we are unable to believe in another person’s story we cannot then begin to practice true empathy. ⠀ The next time you find yourself with the opportunity to practice empathy, believe in the other person’s story and seek to understand why they feel the pain they do. Do your best not to rush into judgment or bring forth your perspective first. Ask permission to give help before offering it. Try these things and let me know what happens. #namaste 🙏

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Kevin Ng