MAKE EMPATHY YOUR GOAL

The ability to empathize wasn’t handed out equally. While some people overflow with kindness, others don’t share their caring attitude. Discovering why can help you increase empathy and be a kinder person.

Empathic people mirror others

The part of the brain managing empathy also manages what it’s like to step into another’s shoes. If you imagine what it’s like to be another person and experience what they are, you’ll feel empathy for them. Most people don’t extend compassion past their immediate social circle. They experience indifference when it comes to strangers. They don’t identify with them because they know little about them.

If you want to have more empathy, consider how those outside your circuit might feel. Find out more about people and how situations and events influence them. You’ll understand them better, and feelings of empathy will stir.

People with empathy don’t dull their pain

If you dull your pain with paracetamol or alcohol, you become less sensitive to the pain of others. The area of your brain managing empathy needs to be switched on rather than clouded. Many pain-relieving drugs don’t just turn off discomfort; they also turn down kindness. Thus, steer clear of substances that reduce your brainpower.

You can increase empathy by listening

Listening well is a skill, enabling you to discover more about people. The more you know about others, the greater the chance of empathizing with them. People with little empathy tend to be bad listeners. Even when they seem to be paying attention, they don’t really listen.

To gain more empathy, work on your listening skills. Get used to pausing a moment after others speak, to make sure they’ve finished. Doing so also gives you time to absorb the information you hear. If you aren’t confident you understand, ask for clarification, or paraphrase, repeating back what you discern. People will tell you if you’ve misunderstood them.

Empathy is linked with imagination

When you’re empathic, you use your imagination to delve into the emotions of others. You enter their world using images, logic, and feelings. You also use your imagination in a similar way when you read or watch stories about other people’s lives. If you get engrossed in a sensitive movie, your empathy grows. Likewise, immerse yourself in quality fiction, and your ability to empathize will expand.

Empathy and mindfulness go together

Good empathizers are mindful. They are excellent at focusing on one task, movement, or thought at a time. As a result, they experience what’s happening with greater awareness than other people. You might have more empathy if you practice mindfulness, too. Fill your mind with whatever’s going on in the moment. Doing so means you don’t flit back and forth to different subjects or time frames. Stay in the moment, and you’ll be better equipped to resonate with the plight of others.

You can improve your ability to empathize with people by stepping into their shoes and refraining from dulling your brain. Increase your listening skills, and use your imagination to experience what it might be like to be someone else. Plus, mindfulness helps you focus and expands your awareness of feelings.

Osprey Lodge’s trademark Heart f elt CONNECTIONS memory care program focuses on the unique abilities that remain to each resident, both cognitive and physical. Residents are assessed and life histories are recorded that allow us to see each person for the individual he or she is. We get to know each person we have the privilege of caring for. We understand who they are now; more importantly, we learn about their lives before memory loss brought them to our doors. With detailed knowledge of our residents at our fingertips and in our hearts, we develop truly personalized care plans, incorporating favorite hobbies and pastimes into activities, and favorite foods into menus. Our caring staff, who have received specialized training in memory care, make each resident’s life as meaningful, fulfilling and joyful as possible!

Heart felt CONNECTIONS

For those seniors and their families living with a memory impairing disease.

“It’s all about understanding and treasuring what remains as far more important than what is lost, and celebrating life in and of itself.”

— Pat Spence, Life Care Services

Our Caregivers Support Group, sponsored by The Alzheimer’s Family Organization, meets the second Tuesday of every month at 6pm. Open to all, it’s a safe place for family caregivers to talk and learn with others in the same situation. For details, or for more information about our Heart felt CONNECTIONS memory care program, please call or visit Osprey Lodge. Ask for Ruth Cantillon, director of sales & community relations.

“Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.”