Everyday Empathy: The Skill That Makes Life Easier | My Gratitude Project Day 12
When you practice everyday empathy, life gets easier. Everyday empathy isn’t just a feeling. It’s a skill to use daily. My husband, Gary, is a master of empathy and it’s many uses. Years ago, flying home from visiting my relatives in Colorado for Christmas, we got stuck at the airport with our two young children, […]
Empathy and Change: The Paradox That Transforms Us | My Gratitude Project Day 11
Ironically, empathy and change are more closely related than most people think. Empathy and change might seem to be opposites, but the secret of empathy is that it is what most people need in order to be ready to change. Resistance operates a lot like Newton’s Third Law of Physics. For every action, there is […]
Acceptance: The Hardest—and Most Healing—Form of Empathy | My Gratitude Project Day 10
Acceptance is another powerful practice related to empathy. Acceptance is acknowledging the reality of a situation without judging or trying to change it. This is a powerful practice that many of us resist. When we do get there, it almost always leads to gratitude. For most people, this is the hardest part of empathy. Naturally, […]
Eight Practices of Empathy That Strengthen Connection | My Gratitude Project Day 9
When we break it down, empathy becomes a number of small acts and practices of empathy. Here are a few practical and tactical practices of empathy, with special thanks to Caroline Fleck and her excellent book on Validation: Whatever you call it and whatever you do, use these empathy skills to keep your mind on […]
Naming Feelings: The Next Step in Empathy | My Gratitude Project Day 8
When empathizing, there is another step beyond mirroring: naming feelings. If you want someone to know that you empathize with them, try naming their feelings. Naming feelings can be a little tricky because you can’t ever 100% know what someone else is feeling. The key is to listen closely enough that you can imagine what […]
Mirroring and Trust: The Science of Empathy at Work | My Gratitude Project Day 7
Mirroring and trust happen without trying, but when we learn to do it consciously, magical things happen. Mirroring and trust are naturally related. Most of the time when we mirror each other, we are not aware of it. Mirroring or copying someone are natural and innate ways that we comfort each other, bond, and build […]
Mirror Neurons and Empathy: We’re Wired to Connect | My Gratitude Project Day 6
Innate mirror neurons hardwire us for empathy. We are born with mirror neurons and empathy, which promote the emotional connection we need to thrive. How we use empathy in daily life determines how well we create the bonds that satisfy our human needs. Yesterday, I wrote about copying someone’s words as a way of signaling […]
How Tactical Empathy Turns Conflict into Connection: My Gratitude Project Day 5
One step beyond feeling empathy is tactical empathy, or what some people call, validation. Tactical empathy is the act of letting another person know you see them, you hear them, you understand them. To be effective, validation has to resonate with the other person as if they said it themselves. The easiest way to do […]
Empathy vs Sympathy: Why One Heals and the Other Distances | My Gratitude Project Day 4
Empathy vs sympathy: they sound alike but they are quite different. We feel sympathy for someone and, in contrast, we feel empathy with someone, that’s the difference between empathy vs sympathy. Feeling sympathy for someone implies a certain distance. It’s more like feeling pity for someone. They are feeling something that you are not. They […]