- The takeaway from this episode is … having empathy requires that you listen, really listen.
- Here’s what this will do for you … you will take more care when it comes to helping someone who deserves it.
- Here’s what I want you to do with it … having empathy is the connection that is so desperately needed in our world right now. It’s the ultimate donation, one that will require you to donate your time while being fully present.
NOTE: The “italic text” within this post is channeled from Linda’s Spirit Guides and Angels
First, you must ask yourself; “what does this world without empathy look like, and how does it feel living in it?”
People lack empathy when they are unable to picture themselves in the other person’s shoes, unable to feel compassion for them. They can’t imagine living the type of lifestyle the other person is experiencing.
Many people confuse empathy with sympathy.
Sympathy is feeling sorry for the person and their plight. They may even give them some money, which is more for the person’s ego who gives the money rather than truly helping the person. This is designed to make the giver feel better about themselves.
Empathy is much stronger than just a feeling. It encompasses all the feelings that the other person is experiencing. This is a connection and a feeling of oneness. Can you imagine yourself in their shoes? This is not just a cliché. Walking a mile in another person’s moccasins is a trite phrase that doesn’t convey the feelings just the situation.
You live in a disconnected, feelingless world.
You communicate with people you have never met and don’t understand their situation because you have no connection to them. People online are putting up a false persona. They don’t have to reveal how they feel. Even if you are in a relationship or attempting to have one, texting someone lacks feeling. You can’t feel a text. You feel the connection when you look the other person in the eyes or hold them and maybe feel their pain. Pain is a great motivator to take any action in order to alleviate it. You can’t do this staring at your phone.
So, the next time you feel sorry for someone, that person standing on the corner begging for money, or you read about someone who has had a great misfortune, ask yourself, “are you just being sympathetic to make yourself feel better – like you’re a good person, or are you willing to be empathic and actually experience their situation so you are capable of helping them in some real way?
CALL TO ACTION: Start your Self-Examination
- Empathy is not sympathy. Empathy requires you to be fully present.
- Feeling sorry for someone is not empathy because it lacks connection.
- Giving a donation to someone or to a cause is an attempt to make yourself feel better, as most of the time the donation never lives up to their claims to help anyone.
HOW IT WORKS: I grew up in a family without empathy, they considered empathy sissy stuff. Most of society reinforced that. This attitude made living in this world harder than it needed to be. As a kid, I found it hard to believe that no one seemed to realize this. Society had a paranoid, cynical 1950s mindset, one that was mostly judgmental and disconnected.
Now, technology is our connection. It has no feelings and has become our new abnormal. To most people empathy is a feeling they can safely indulge in when they watch a news story or a movie, but if it gets any more personal than that it makes them feel uncomfortable.
In order to practice empathy here’s how you start. Take an extra moment to hear what someone is saying. Do this without outthinking them. In other words, stay present and really listen. When you do this you are practicing empathy. Empathy is a total connection to another. Do not go into sympathy, just remain present.
By the way, this is how your Spirit Guides operate when they hear you, they are able to see everything with absolute clarity because they are totally present. When you make this vital connection to your Spirit Guides you will see what they see and what you can do right now to play your part in healing this world that lacks empathy and connection. ~ Linda Deir
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I love how the spirit guides dive deeply into what empathy is, and how it generates the connection with others and all that is. This is insightful for me because although I am very empathic … there are times when I resist it or try to protect myself from going there because I have become depleted by doing it too much. Now I think if I look at it as it’s just a connection to the oneness, that it doesn’t have to be depleting. I don’t have to lose myself in it or others. This is a great insight for me!
The answer is always in the connection. It’s not about feeling sorry for them but doing something that actually helps them in some way so they feel they belong and are connected. When we are “connected” we have access to the highest knowledge and help. It’s always there – no matter who we are or what we are going through.