Can Empathy Be Learned, or Is It an Innate Trait?

Hello everyone, it is my pleasure to share my thoughts and insight on the theme for this week which is tagged "THE POWER OF EMPATHY".
Before I would extensively say more about empathy I would love to define and tell the difference between empathy and sympathy, obviously so many people barely understand the difference between the two words and often use it interchangeably I was among these category of people too not until I learnt about it.

Merriam Webster dictionary defines Sympathy and empathy as:

sympathy is a feeling of sincere concern for someone who is experiencing something difficult or painful. while Empathy is action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another.

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But in a very simple way I will say that sympathy means feeling sorry for someone while Empathy has to do with sharing someone's else feelings or putting your self in someone's shoes, understanding how they truly feel.

As soon as I saw the topic and read through other people's post a salient question arose from within and the question is: Can empathy be learned or is it an innate trait? I kept pondering on these question for sometime and I equally want to throw these question to everyone. Have you ever wondered if empathy can be learned, or is it something we are all born with? I know so many people will say that empathy is an innate trait while some people will still argue that it is being learned and developed overtime through experience, practice, and training.

In my opinion, empathy is an action that is learned and developed by constant practice. Although we are born with the ability to feel compassion about people but the act of empathy is continually learned and practiced. I can vividly remember that I do watch my mum very closely the way she feels, react and understand peoples feeling and even though I did not consciously learn it I found my self always feeling for people the same way she does. Since Empathy is a vital force needed in our society today, I think people should learn this act of empathy.

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As parents what kind of model are you displaying to your children? do you most times put yourselves in their shoes, are you empathic about the people around you? do you empathize with them and let them understand what empathy truly means? Children learn directly or indirectly from what the see others most especially their parents and elders do .The family is the most effective unit for nurturing the lives of children and thereby making the society a better place.

Not only can you learn the art of empathy as a child, even grown up adults can also learn and develop it too, do not be so fast to judge and criticize people, try to put yourself in their shoes and see things from their own perspective, understand and be patient with people if possible look for solutions and help them out. Try practicing this always and it will gradually be part of you.

Thank you all for reading through my post.

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