In my mind, empathy is what makes my life worth living. Helping others with their struggle through life. In that regard, it is important to understand just what empathy is all about. Generally, empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It is often confused with sympathy, which is just feeling sorry for someone.  Too many people get empathy and sympathy mixed up.

There are actually three types of empathy are: Cognitive, Emotional, and Compassionate.

• Cognitive empathy is the ability to understand another person’s thoughts or beliefs.
• Emotional empathy is the ability to feel what another person feels emotionally.
• Compassionate empathy is doing something about another’s distress.

The first level of empathy (cognitive) which is to just understand at some level what a person is going through. That is better than sympathy, but not much. Emotional empathy takes it to a different level. When we can emotionally put ourselves in the shoes of those going through hard times, we come to a different realization. At least for some, that leads to doing something to relieve their distress.

At a personal level, I have been driven by empathy from a very young age. I can remember when I was six-years-old, sharing my lunchtime sandwich with a classmate who didn’t have one. That feeling and those actions have been with me ever since.

So let me now finish the title to this post:

I might ruffle a few feathers here, but this what I deem as “fake” or maybe more politely “self-serving” empathy is to tell the person that

“I will say a prayer for you”.

We were put on this earth to help each other, and putting that action back on God, is shirking your personal responsibility.

Empathy Without Action Is Self-Serving At Best

It might make you feel better about yourself, but it does nothing to actually help the situation.

What you can do is:

• share your sandwich
• Lend a hand for things like babysitting, grocery shopping…
• Support legislation to help those who are in temporary need
• Contribute to organizations that help those who can’t help themselves.