Empathy is an ability, a skill. Sympathy is an emotion. That is the difference between the two. Everyone knows what sympathy is; your girlfriend sees a dead cat by the side of the road and she cries, because a poor little kitty is dead. Those with empathy might think of the fear the cat experienced while a vehicle was bearing down upon it, or the pain of the little girl who wonders where her kitty went.
Empathy is an ability, but it is also a curse. It makes you experience emotions -- usually negative ones -- when you, personally, have no reason to feel badly.
It seems that empathy is my life skill. I have this uncanny ability to put myself into others' shoes, even though I haven't experienced much, myself. Sometimes, it's helpful -- I tend to be a pretty good judge of character, and I've been told I give very reasonable advice. But I always smile when work clients tell me I have no idea what they're going through, because I have never experienced a severe drug addiction. They're right, but also wrong. That smile is a rueful one.
Sometimes, I wish I wasn't at all empathetic, that I could be like everyone else and have no consideration for other people's feelings. I wish I could just flip that switch and focus on myself. It's so much easier that way. Those kind of people have no idea how lucky they are.
Instead I've consigned myself to work in human services forever. I'll work long, extremely draining hours making a sub-par salary, in an attempt to improve lives because I feel for them.
Empathy is a shit skill to have.
/selfpity
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