So I chose empathy partly because it's a quality of mine that I've really only been focusing on very recently. (And I still have a long way to go, for that matter.) But people are so naturally ego-centric that it seems fairly rare for someone to make an honest effort at "putting themselves in a stranger's shoes."

I think empathy is something that can be developed, like a skill. Instead of always thinking from my own perspective, I like to wonder what motivates other people to act the way they do. Sometimes, this is very difficult; after all, everyone has a personality type that they essentially dislike, and it's easy to just brush people off when you don't like 'em. But I think the more I at least try to empathize with others, the more patient and forgiving I become. And hopefully, one day all this effort will lead to me becoming a genuinely/indiscriminately kind person. (Though to be honest, I can't imagine being that mature until I'm, like, 40. o-o)

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