Psychology Today goes on to say, “People often use the words interchangeably, but they are, in fact, separate processes. You can be sympathetic to someone’s situation while being completely clueless about his feelings and thoughts. Empathy involves identifying with what someone is feeling and, additionally, actually feeling those feelings yourself.”
Sympathy is feeling for someone; empathy involves feeling with them.
I think you will see what I mean in the following story.
You may have heard a story about burnt biscuits. A mother baked some biscuits after a long hard day at work. She placed the burnt biscuits in front of the father. The father ate them as usual with butter and jelly, never made a face nor uttered a word about it. The son heard the mother apologizing to the father for burning the biscuits but the father replied he loved burnt biscuits ever now and then. The son asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. The father just simply answered, “Your Mom put in a hard day at work today and she’s real tired. And besides–a little burned biscuit never hurt anyone!” Guess what the son learnt.
Life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people. The son felt with the imperfect people and situations.
Learning to accept each other’s faults and choosing to celebrate each other’s differences is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.
Monday, 5 May 2025