EMPATHIC SYMPATHY 1

With the death of the former president of Ghana, John Mills on July 24^th and the subsequent outpouring of emotion all across the country, I decided to find out more about the difference(s) between these two words that I had hitherto found confusing and in some cases interchangeably used- Sympathy & Empathy- and find out which of these was being expressed by most of the people.

Here’s what I found out:

When we say we are expressing sympathy towards another, it is a feeling of sorrow for the person’s pain. It doesn’t go beyond ‘sorry’ here and there and that ends it. In fact, the whole world can express sympathy towards whomever they choose to from wherever without ever having a physical presence (they did so when John Mills died) showing that sympathizers are not necessarily close (they might be in physical proximity but far in mind and heart connection).

Sympathetic people might communicate but they don’t connect. They exhibit superficial attention.

On the other hand, empathy reaches beyond the surface. It is the ability to identify with and understand somebody else’s feelings and emotions. The process of identification is intellectual while feeling indicate emotion hence, empathy deals with not just a show of feelings but a deep understanding of the person emotionally and intellectually.

In some cases though, the most we can show or express towards someone else’s suffering is sympathy.

But in communication, in reaching out to other people or better still in the quest of other people to be reached out to by you, which of these will be more appropriate, how and why?

Let’s continue this discussion next week…

Be inspired!

Remain motivated!

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