RE-TWEET IT!
Tweet
I learn a lot from my young daughter.
She asks questions that make me think – about things I’ve assumed clarity and certainty. She offers insights that are startling, even shocking. And yesterday, while explaining the difference between ‘empathy’ and ’sympathy’, I had a mini-Aha moment!
Here’s how I explained it.
Sympathy is when you see someone going through a hard time, or suffering pain, or experiencing loss – and say or think to yourself, “Oh, how sad!”
Empathy is when you see that happen, and FEEL that way – because you identify yourself with what they are experiencing.
So empathy is a deeper, more meaningful, and harder to feel emotion than sympathy.
And as I explained this to a 9 year young lady, it struck me that in many years, I hadn’t thought much about this difference!
Sympathy is more superficial, empathy is deep and comes from one’s heart.
And there are some things you simply cannot empathize with except by letting down barriers, feeling deep, searing pain, and taking a leap of imagination to imagine how it might be to be in someone else’s shoes.
{ 1 comment }
Sympathy is lot more loosely used than empathy…Empathy normally gets you to do something – something to help the other person…Sympathy can too but in most cases you just stop at sympathizing…Usually there is no intense urge to take action.
Comments on this entry are closed.