Empathy; a word defined as, the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Not to be confused with sympathy, which is essentially just feeling bad for another or having an understanding of their situation (rather than feelings). I pride myself on being endlessly empathetic. In fact, when I had to ask a group of people to describe me in a few words, all of them included empathetic. I care for people in a way that touches my core, regardless of if I have experienced their situation or not; I feel their feelings.
Here’s the thing about being empathetic to a possible fault, though, it makes it nearly impossible to go a full day without your heart literally aching. News headline about a mass shooting? My heart hurts. Facebook video of an elderly man and his elderly dog? Welp, there goes my heart again. But is being this way bad? Is my uncontrollable urge to slide into everyone else’s shoes detrimental to my mental state? I mean the answer is probably yes, but I do not think I would rather be any other way.
If I were any other way, I would not be the friend I am, the crisis counselor I am or even the girlfriend that I am. Being so willing and able to come to whatever emotional level another being is at is what makes me (and others who feel me on this) able to assess, help and sometimes even solve issues, even if I have no previous experience with it. Empathy allows me to not hold grudges, because I can so easily understand where another person was coming from (even if some people still deserve that grudge) and along with that same logic, I think it allows me to not be an angry person (98% of the time). Most importantly, being this way, allows me to see the good in this world. Yes, my heart bleeds with the tragedies of today’s world, but it also swells with the love I still see in this world, too. I understand how terrified refugees in third worlds must feel, but I also understand how much love is in the hearts of those that take them in.
Empathy is what fuels love in this world, and maybe if everyone would have a little more of it, we would have a whole lot more of that fuel. Stop making assumptions on first impressions; you do not know how someone’s day or week has gone up until that point. Do not yell at that waiter bringing you the wrong drink; you do not know what is going on in their head. If you have not tried these things before, give it a shot and see how you feel. If you have, keep on letting that heart bleed out for another, it’s not like you can take it with you in the end anyways.
