A friend recently shared this video with me and I am so thankful that she did. It’s short and will take 2 minutes of your day, but I hope the take-away will stay with you longer. The narrator, very simply, discusses the difference between sympathy and empathy and why empathy has a ‘healing’ super power as well as the ability to form relationships, while sympathy drives a wedge between relationships. You probably know the definitions of both, but take a moment to watch this and engage in some introspection – do you use each appropriately?

I’m definitely guilty of saying “at least….”
I’m sorry to my friends who needed empathy and I quickly dished out sympathy. I didn’t know!
And I’m certain I’m not the only person who has unknowingly hurt someone’s feelings or who has attempted to rush in with a ‘solution’ to help a hurting friend. In reality, all they needed from me was my patience, my listening ear, and my presence saying ‘me too’ or; if I can’t say ‘me too’, then simple silence.