Learning Challenge: Read an Article about Empathy

Learning By H.E.A.R.T.

I decided to read an article about empathy for a learning challenge. I picked the article "3 Little Tricks to Deal With People Who Offend You" by Leo Babauta. This was a really fun article to read. I decided to read this article because I feel like I do take some things to heart, especially things that I really shouldn't and I get offended. It's not really the everyday things that the author wrote about in the article. It's the mean words that people say that I take to heart. I read this article in hopes that I might find a way to not do that.

• One thing that was confirmed for me in this article was what they wrote in the second point. The comparison they used was really good. They described you and other drivers on the road to you in a raft and twigs floating down the river. They twigs aren't really trying to get in your way. They're just there, just like how other drivers aren't purposely trying to bother you on the road. I realized that I'm not so easily offended by that. I kind of just mind my own business and don't get bothered unless people are being obnoxious and annoying.

• One thing that the author mentioned they do is give people a mental hug when they think someone is using rudeness as a coping mechanism. I think that's something new I'll try. I myself am usually so stressed all the time that I feel like I've unconsciously been rude before. Since finals are coming up, I know how stressed out the population of OU is going to be so I'm going to mentally hug someone when I see them being rude.

Mental hug. Source: Flickr.

• One thing that I'm curious to explore is the Get Big theory. Get Big means to get the bigger perspective about a situation. I think I do that anyway, but not as often as I should. I do tend to act like a brat sometimes. I need to learn to see the bigger perspective of a small problem.