[Erin Pavlina]

Empathy is one of my highest values. I can't imagine going through my life in a state of not feeling or understanding how another person feels. How can I communicate with someone if I can't understand their feelings? I've spent a great deal of my life cultivating my empathy to be very strong.

One of the things I do and one of the things I'm really good at is discerning the underlying question or intent of a person's statements. I almost never answer a person's spoken question, I answer the underlying question that caused them to ask that question. Growing up people thought I was psychic because I would answer unspoken questions. I can immediately feel what a person is feeling and that can also facilitate me hearing what they're thinking. I often pick up on surface thoughts, and sometimes deep thoughts as well.

Part of my connection with others comes from empathy. I'm the first to notice when someone is upset or uncomfortable, about to panic and flee, even when they have not vocalized any such intent.

In situations I often imagine what the other person is feeling because it allows me to communicate more clearly and easily, addressing their issues not their words. Words often fail to express what a person is really feeling or thinking.

I'm not exactly sure how to cultivate empathy if you don't already have it. I would probably do exercises designed to make me more aware of others in my environment. Then I would imagine how a person is feeling. Then find out if I'm right.

Keep honing your empathy until you can do it consistently.

I would be blind without my empathy. It's like a limb for me.