Feb 25, 2021
Sympathy is about us and empathy is about the other
by Lisa A. Romano
Imagine if, the entire world and everyone in it knew how not to make what other people felt, believed, or perceived about them.
Imagine if, every person in the world, could empathize with others, while at the same time, disagree without judgment, condemnation, fear, or criticism.
Imagine if, we all had the ability to tell the difference between sympathy and empathy.
Sympathy is about us and empathy is about the other.
Sympathy and pity are about OUR feelings about someone else, while empathy is our ability to emotionally invest in the OTHER person's reality without trying to fix it, change it, alter it, add to it or take from it.
Affective empathy means I have the ability to respond with appropriate emotions to the emotions of another, while cognitive empathy means I have the ability to imagine why a person is having their particular emotional experience.
Empathy is NOT about me...it is about YOU...and my ability to emotionally respond and cognitively appreciate your unique perspective without trying to change it for my sake or even yours.
The better we all get at learning how NOT TO make someone else's reality, perspective, opinion, goals, dreams, desires, or feelings about us, the less codependency, enmeshment, fear, and suffering there will be in the world.
