The Power Of Empathy - How To Improve Your Social Skills

As an inquisitive and interpretive species, we are always to examine, critique, and improve the world around us.

We want what's best for the world and we all like to believe that we know what's best for it.

As a result, we constantly judge and critique the things we encounter in life, including other people.

This innate competitive self-confidence is well-intended, but it often results in a pessimistic judgement of other people.

What we must understand is that there are two sides to the coin of self-confidence.

On one side, it is good to have a unique perspective of the world that we believe in and work for.

But on the other side, we must not take it so far as to let it become negative and limiting.

Progression, revelation, and wonder cultivate outside of our bubbles of ideology, and if our self-righteousness is too rigid, we close our self off from such opportunity.

We must balance both sides and free ourselves of rigid self-righteousness.

We must remind ourselves that just as valuable as our views and ideals are to us, so are other views and ideals to other people.

If we do not want others to discard and belittle the ways in which we live, we must ensure that we are not discarding or belittling the way in which others live.

We must work to develop and improve our sense of the world through open-mindedness.

We must utilize our unique human capacity for empathy.

When you focus on empathy, you understand that just as others are imperfect, so are you.

When you admit this, you balance judgement out and neutralize its harmful effects.

You no longer feel as though you are above anyone, and as a result, no longer feel as though you are beneath anyone.

In reducing your degree of self-righteousness, you reduce irrational and unnecessary negativity in your life.

In its place forms a heightened openness and opportunity to learn, experience, and connect.

You become open to life, and life becomes open to you.