Being empathetic

One day I found myself in the unfortunate and unenviable situation of struggling to empathize with someone.

It was a horrible, terrible feeling I would never want to feel again.

So I spent some time trying to understand why I had lost empathy. Was I blaming the individual for their situation and thus unable to be empathetic? Who was I to have such judgment?

This really bothered me. I'd never known myself to be unempathetic.

And I didn't like it. So I endeavored to make changes.

What did it mean to be empathetic? Contrary to what I had thought, it didn't mean agreeing with the other person and taking on to myself what the other person was feeling. It didn't mean violating my boundaries for the sake of another.

But it meant considering and understanding another person's perspective, validating their feelings, and being fully present. My ministerial training and clinical pastoral education have also helped in that regard.

I reconnected with what it meant to be empathetic. To have compassion for others. This reconnection also allowed me to come back into alignment with my values.

The challenges of the hustle and bustle, the bootstrap individuality mentality of many of our societies, can trap us in the web of diminished empathy. How do you stay connected to your compassion for others?

How did you reconnect to your empathy if you've ever found yourself in a situation where you struggled to find empathy?