Do you have empathy for yourself?
This is a great place to begin when you are working on being more empathetic towards others. Modern life has so many stressors and challenges. As we focus on these stressors, we can sometimes be so hard on ourselves that we actually find it hard to have empathy for other people as well. Through learning to practice self-empathy, we become much better equipped to handle our relationships with others.
Try out a simple practice of self-empathy during your stressful times: Take a moment to pause and interrupt any self-critical voices. Then, turn inward with extreme gentleness - imagine the kind of gentle attitude you might use when handling a tiny baby - that's the very attitude to take towards yourself. If we can begin to notice our stressful moments in life and slow ourselves down to a place of gentleness and forgiveness, we will be building a foundation for better relationships with other people.
What about developing a heightened sense of empathy for other people? This is also something that gets easier with regular practice. Start out with those situations that are difficult or annoying: getting cut off in traffic, dealing with a challenging coworker, or after a difficult interaction with a stranger. First, notice your feelings in the situation and allow them to be there for a moment. Then, rather than hanging on to the negative feelings and indulging them, take a deep breath and try to imagine what could possibly be behind this person's behavior.
Perhaps the person is distracted by grief. Maybe this person is a single parent and is not getting enough sleep at night. Maybe this is someone who means no ill will towards you at all but tends to have trouble expressing himself clearly. Maybe this person simply made a mistake - as we all do. Of course, whatever you are imagining does not have to be the literal truth, and in fact, it most likely will not be.
The idea is to see each person in their humanity and their struggle, so that we can put ourselves in their shoes. Everyone has a story - everyone has pain at times - and everyone is just out there doing their best. Empathy allows us to regard each person we encounter from this point of view and to think twice before acting out in anger. | 
