This is a great point and a great way to look at it. Without feeling the pressure to agree, we are more open to support the other person freely.

Self-empathy is a em-power-full process. It is one that often comes last on our list of personal development “must do’s” and yet it has such tremendous power to support, nuture and strengthen our spirit and resiliency.

Empathy allows us to re-perceive our world in a new, fresh way and move on. By move on I do not mean forget, repress, leave behind. But rather, to find meaning, to remember the specialness of what we are, to be with ourselves in a way that engenders growth rather than self-hatred or self-forgetting.

With self-empathy, practiced with compassion and Presence we can move beyond guilt, shame, anger to healing. We can move beyond right and wrong to what needs or values we were meeting and an awareness of other needs that we may have liked to give more attention to or acted in more harmony with. When we hear internal self-criticism we are really saying “I am not acting in harmony with my own needs or values” and this is an opportunity to celebrate this awareness and self connection.

Finally, I love empathy because we can “learn” to bring it into our lives – so we don’t need to be “born” empathic as we can “develop” empathy.

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This is very true. If we always relied on our circumstances to be at peace, we would ride a roller coaster every single day, which is what many of us unfortunately do. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Eric.

Anyone who works can relate to this one. Thanks for putting it so eloquently.

@Rema: I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks for taking full advantage of the opportunity to share you thoughts with us. There’s no doubt that a heart full of love, true love as you put it, is necessary to allow for the other traits listed.

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To me..i think Love is the most important sign of a healthy heart,,
beacuase the heart which ables to love is able to have understanding, calrity and optimisim…and all the list.

However, as love is capable to make the heart healthy..it is capable to do the opposite..

here only, true love domenstrates..it is true love which is capable to gurantee us with HEALTHY HEART.

Thanks for sharing us this wonderful post

Regard, Rema

There’s no doubt the world would be a better place if others could master this trait/habit.

@Evelyn: We can learn so much from children and their fresh/simplistic way of seeing the world around them. Great point!

@Barbara: “When we give, of ourselves, or of our time, we’re concentrating our efforts on others. By doing so, we often forget about our own problems and worries. When this happens, we relax, we get “warm fuzzies”, and we are experiencing less stress.”

This is so true. And the greatest thing is when you are worried about something, but get caught up in helping someone else with their problems. When you come back to your own issue, you find it resolved itself.

BTW, you certainly practice what you preach. Good for you!