Yes, a very good question, thank you again.
Let me talk about the difference between empathy and compassion.
And I think it helps us at least a little bit, avoid burn out.
Empathy is feeling like the other person is feeling.
So if we are healing professions and we are around people who is sick,
and often, angry and depressed,
We gonna take other people’s angry, and depression, depressed.
and then much easier to burn out.
so if we can shift and grow beyond empathy,
to love and compassion,
It helps at least a little bit, prevent the burn out.
So love and compassion is the wish,
compassion is the wish to releave the suffering.
It’s not taking on that feeling,
it’s not feeling the suffering.
The feeling tone of compassion is mostly, joy, happiness, mostly.
we feel good because we’re trying to help the other person
to releave the suffering
but it’s tinge, there is a little bit of sadness,
because ofcourse we do touch that other person ’s sadness,
but we don’t make other person’s sadness to our own.
That’s the difference between empathy and compassion.
Now the second point is to take care of ourselves.
To be gentle.
Like we love our patient, love ourselves in a same way.
so it’s very common for health professional,
I think this is not just health professionals,
but if we are health professionals
if we did ten things in a day,
and eight or nine things went quite well,
we thought you know, happy about them, satisfied,
But one or two didn’t go the way we wanted,
what do we do?
we tend to empathize and keep thinking of one or two things
didn’t work out well and we beat ourselves up.
You know, we say, “ we’re not good health care professionals.”
So to be more realistic.
“Ok I’m not perfect”
“But 8 for10 or 9 for 10, not bad!”
I mean, 80% or 90%, you pass all of your exam.
if you are playing the base ball with the Fukuoka Hawks
You get the MVP, the Most valluable Player award
if you’re 80% or 90%.
So to take care of ourselves.
Not beat ourselves up so easily.
Recognize that we don’t have all the answers.
And try to be at least some what be comfortable with that.
