Friday, February 18, 2011

Putting yourself in another person's shoes.

What does it mean to "put yourself in another person's shoes"? What personal qualities are necessary to be able to see things as someone else does?
Putting yourself in another person's shoes is to consider other people. No matter what thing we do, we should always consider the thoughts, actions and feelings of other people when we do it. We must always aim to find a win-win situation for everyone involved in the matter. When we are able to do so, we command the respect of others.

To be able to see things as someone else does is not difficult. Think of something that happened to you previously that is now happening to that person. That is the best way to understand and emphatize with the person. When in an argument with someone, try to see it from the person's point of view, and be flexible. That person may have his reasons for doing what he does. Respect the person; and you will be able to put yourself in his or her shoes.

2 comments:

  1. Dear Wen Hong,

    I agree with you post. However, your post is mainly empahasising on how to be empathetic and the defination of empathy, or also "putting yourself in other people's shoes. Besides the basic of being empathetic, one must also be respectful and caring. If a person does not even respect or care for other people, how is he ever suppose to understand him as he will never even be bothered to think about other people. I think you should also elaborate on this point: what else is required of a person to be able to put themselves into other people's shoes? Anyway, nice post =D

    Nicholas

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  2. Hi Wen Hong,

    Your post is a little short and you might want to consider adding in some examples which you actually face or see in real life. Also, you might want to talk about sympathy and pity.
    As this post is based on To Kill a Mockingbird, you could perhaps put in some parts of TKAM which demonstrates this.

    I disagree with one sentence in this post, "When we are able to do so, we command the respect of others." We cannot actually command anyone. If we are able to be "Put in someone's shoe", and are able to solve problems in a win-win manner, we garner respect. You choice of word is wrong.

    However, there is a very strong sentence too. "We must always aim to find a win-win situation for everyone involved in the matter. " You used our school motto to demonstrate what you are trying to bring across your message. I like how you describe too.

    Leonard

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