Permit Yourself to Understand the other

“If I let myself really understand another person, I might be changed by that understanding. And we all fear change. So as I say, it is not an easy thing to permit oneself to understand an individual”
                                                             Carl R. Rogers

Our world suffers from what I call “Existential Indifference.”  This lack of interest or concern of others is deep seated in our culture. While the psychologist, Carl Rogers, has stated the dilemma his use of the word “permit” demonstrates how unbelievably difficult it is to simply understand another person.  We are not trained to listen, which is the key to understanding someone else. The skill-set needed to listen is presented in the following link.

https://www.ccl.org/multimedia/podcast/the-big-6-an-active-listening-skill-set/      

Beyond the listening skill-set we need to challenge ourselves to appreciate and value empathy in our contact with others.  Empathy is “the psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts or attitudes of another.” It has been said: “Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself.” To discover those “echoes” we need to reflect and pay attention to others in instances in which empathy is essential. Wake up to the situations that beg for an empathic response. Practice permitting yourself to understand others.