EMPATHY – A PERSONALITY TRAIT
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Posted By Devnaa Mishra
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We are all in the middle of the pandemic yet once again! It has gripped the core of human existence, by its unflinching claws!
Yes, we are all stressed to some degree or the other, so I thought of shifting the focus, and hopefully lighten up my reader’s mood and write about ‘empathy.’
We, humans, are a complex creation, but we all have our own set of individual traits that make us unique. In order to move ahead in our lives, it is imperative to be intelligent and smart. But there are certain soft skills that cannot be ignored. In fact, any level of your IQ, or intelligence quotient, will not suffice, if you wish to make an all-around growth, in not just your personality, but your life, as a whole.
Story #1. Let Your Gentleness Be Evident to All
A young student was taking a walk one day with a kindly professor who commonly treated his students as friends. As they went along, lying on the edge of the path, they saw a pair of old shoes, which they supposed to belong to a poor man who was employed in a field close by, and who had nearly finished his day’s work. The student turned to the professor, saying: “Let us play the man a trick: we will hide his shoes and conceal ourselves behind those bushes and wait to see his perplexity when he cannot find them.” My friend,” answered the professor, “we should never amuse ourselves at the expense of the poor. But you are comparatively rich and may give yourself a much greater pleasure by means of the poor man. Put a coin into each shoe, and then we will hide and watch how the discovery affects him.”The student did so, and they both placed themselves behind the bushes nearby. The poor man soon finished his work and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes. While putting on his coat, he slipped his foot into one of the shoes; but feeling something hard, he stooped down to feel what it was, and found the coin. Astonishment and wonder were seen upon his countenance. He gazed upon the coin, turned it around, and looked at it again and again. He then looked around him on all sides, but no person was to be seen. He now put the money back into his pocket and proceeded to put on the other shoe: but his surprise was doubled on finding the other coin. His feelings overcame him; he fell upon his knees, looked up to heaven, and uttered aloud a fervent thanksgiving, in which he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his children without bread, whom the timely bounty, from some unknown hand, would save from perishing. The student stood there deeply affected, and his eyes filled with tears.“Now,” said the professor, “are you not much better pleased than if you had played your intended trick?” The youth replied, “You have taught me a lesson which I will never forget. I feel now the truth of those words, which I never understood before: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
Moral: Your gentleness and caring equip you with the finest characteristics, and the love that flows, is endless, and magnificent.
Story#2. Someone who understands.
A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the 4 pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of
his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy. “Mister,” he said, “I want to buy one of your puppies. “Well,” said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, “These puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money.”
The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. “I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?” “Sure,” said the farmer. And with that, he let out a whistle. “Here, Dolly!” he called. Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain-link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared, this one noticeably smaller. Down the ramp, it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up…
“I want that one,” the little boy said, pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy’s side and said, “Son, you don’t want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would.”
With that, the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, “You see sir, I don’t run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands.”
With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. And handed it over to the little boy.
Moral: Your ability to feel the pain of someone else, is the biggest degree of humanity.
So you see, it is so important to feel the pain, happiness, sadness, and all the other human feelings that one goes through. Life would be so much easier if we gave weightage to these attributes or the soft skills that many call it!
MAY GOD BLESS US ALL