I make a conscious effort to communicate with all people equally, staying true to myself while respecting each persons individuality. However, I must admit that I feel most comfortable with people whose culture I share. In those cases, I feel more natural and it feels less necessary to make an effort to empathize and understand the others point of view. So, while I try to communicate in the same way regardless OTC the culture of another, I am sure that my degree of comfort or of effort is apparent.
I think that showing empathy is one very important way to communicate with others. It is necessary to attempt to look at the subject from then others point of view and to understand why they have that point of view. The way to do this is to ask questions, be open minded and accept the fact that there are many valid viewpoints. It is also important to avoid jumping to conclusions. Many times we think we understand another's motivations without getting the facts. The third strategy is to also be honest about our own motivations. It is very difficult to understand another without first understanding ourselves.
I really enjoyed your blog post and reading from your point of view. It is so interesting to read everyone's take on the same subject and seeing it interpreted so many different ways. I agree with you that it is important to avoid jumping to conclusions. Whenever I find myself doing this, I end up being wrong 99% of the time and feeling bad for judging someone based on something I shouldn't. And lastly, I love when you said that we must first understand ourselves in order to understand others. This is SO true!
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