Empathy and Compassion

We all know the saying; "Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes." Meaning, before judging someone, you must understand their unique experience, background and way of thinking. The danger of walking in someone else's shoes is that their shoes probably don't fit you, and you are likely to get blisters.

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Empathy and non-judgmental understanding are important in any relationship, be it professional, or personal. The difficulty can be in knowing how to empathise without fully taking on the emotions and experiences of others.

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We are still able to show compassion and understand someone and their experience, but it is important to keep boundaries, so that we don't become their experience.

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It is possible to think about another person's feelings and support them, without taking them on.

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A few tips: - Don't agree to anything in the moment. Take time to think about your reasons for doing something. - Learn a few compassionate and kind ways to say no. - Remember you can press the reset button in a relationship, which reminds you that you are you, and they are them. You are not the same person. - Listening without judgment can be all that someone needs. You don't always need to take action and fix for others. Beautiful painting by NZ (Melbourne-based) artist @hugo_mathias