Thought Tweet #808.5 When misery enjoys company people don't accomplish constructive things.

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Empathy - is it the ability to feel what someone else feels?

Or - is it the ability to understand what other people are feeling?

It seems to me Sympathy is the word for sharing feelings while Empathy is the word for understanding another person's feelings.

Does it make a difference? Yes - people may not share feelings yet be quite capable of understanding them. People may share feelings and do it so intensely they exacerbate the feelings - misery loves company. When misery enjoys company people don't accomplish constructive things. When company understands misery there is an opportunity for constructive, comfortable change.

Thought Tweet #808 How do you know, with certainty, your perception of a person's behaviour is accurate?

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

If your perception is accurate then your understanding of the person's behaviour will help you have productive communication with the person.

If your perception is not accurate then your understanding of the person's behaviour will confuse and possibly prevent you from having productive communication with the person.

Flawed perceptions about other people: wasted energy; possibly, shared wasting of energy; the precursor for lousy communication.

Thought Tweet #807.5 Anger is better than frustration because it contains some belief/optimism you can control the situation.

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

When we feel we cannot control a situation, it causes much discomfort. Frustration is a gnawing, spirit-killing feeling that often expands beyond a feeling to become a mood....an unpleasant mood.