Blog entry for:

empathy was not one of the skills i had when i walked in here and was not something that i ever thought i would need or learn. after all, why do i have to feel what you are feeling? i did not even want to feel my feelings why would i want to feel yours?
i quickly discovered that those in the rooms before me seemed to sense what i was feeling regardless of how i was acting or saying. somehow they could read my heart and offer the exact right thing i needed at that time. i was certainly put off by this, as i believed that someone was spying on me by eavesdropping on my meetings with my sponsor, or even worse peeking at my step work. these delusions of grandeur soon faded and i was that you guys had something to offer me and were listening with more than your ears and seeing with more than your eyes, and that it might not be a bad thing.
as time went by, and i actually started to get over myself, i begin learning how to listen with my heart. i began to see that even i, the self-centered, selfish bastard that i am, could also feel your pain and joy, hear beyond your words, see beyond your deeds and become a person with a little bit of empathy.
today, i try my best to let my heart do the listening and let myself feel whatever is going on with those around me and become the empathetic sort that was present when i came to this program.
-- DT --