Personal values and empathy: interconnections and implications

Department or Degree of Admission

Empathy

Empathy is not an easily skill or feeling to come back. In order to be empathetic to others, one must have had some joyful and traumatic experiences. Often the people who are the most empathetic are those who have experienced situations with similar intensity and context. In fact, that is a requirement for empathy -- one must have been there, through that or a comparable experience him/herself in order to exude and feel empathy for others. Life can be thrilling and exciting, but also scary and depressing. It is important to live a life without fear and without regrets to have a fulfilling life with intense memories and experiences. These experiences, good and bad, lend themselves to empathy. Without empathy, the world would feel much lonelier than it already does at times. Empathy can save a person from desperation and bring someone back from despair. Empathy is something just about anyone can offer. It is free and at the same time it is priceless.

Empathy was not a trait that came easy to me. I lived a fairly sheltered life. I had my share of ups and downs, but I had never experience real trauma or tragedy or loss. In a way, that made me lucky, but in a way, it also made me unprepared to be a real friend or confidante to another person. Friendship is a part of life that is really important to me and empathy is a crucial part of friendship. Not that I wanted to bring upon a horrible experience upon myself, but I was concerned, for example, when a good friend of many years had a parent who fell ill and it turned out to be cancer. I had never experience something that shocking and I did not know if I would be able to adequately support my friend. How could I relate if I had not been there myself?

Fortunately and unfortunately, I had the opportunity to empathize with my friend as I learned shortly thereafter that one of my grandparents was formally diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. It was at this point that I understood more about what my friend and her family were going through. I had finally learned one of the many lessons I would accumulate in the subject of empathy. We were both able to lend strength to the other friend. We both understood the desire for someone to just listen and sometimes for someone to just be silent with. What I truly felt was the power of empathy. It is very simple to be able to relate to another person through experience. My lesson in empathy with a sick, close relative helped me see how that feeling can sustain a person through extreme experiences.