Nurturing Self Awareness, Empathy and Compassion

Self-awareness, empathy and compassion play a significant role in the development of social and emotional capacities. Where we bring empathy into our thought processes, we are better able to manage emotions and see the different perspectives of people. Empathy and compassion grow from deep listening and having the capacity to place ourselves in the shoes of other people.  Thinking with empathy and compassion requires us to slow down and turn things around as we examine issues from a range of different perspectives. Having the self-awareness to understand how our actions impact on those around us helps us to understand and build positive relationships. Engagement in restorative practices helps to grow important social competencies as people learn to understand the impact of their choices and are invited to understand the perspectives of other people. Parents, teachers and peers play an important role in supporting the growth of interpersonal capability through encouraging reflection of different perspectives as challenges are encountered.

Having the capacity to forgive yourself and others and reset, enables people to continue to flourish. As the bushwalker did earlier this week, we can find ourselves keeping on reaching and pushing for something we think we value only to find ourselves upside down and stuck. God comes to us in those times with love to free us from the boulders that trap and blind us and encourages us to see and listen with new perspective. Just as He acts with compassion and empathy to free and forgive us, we are invited to do the same in all of our relationships. Freed we are better placed to move forward with hope together.