What about Sympathy?

Empathy has always been an easy concept for me to understand. I can often see where people are coming from in conversation, and I stay out of trouble by reading people’s moods before they utter a sentence. However, I am a terrible verbal sympathizer. I laughed when I read Emily’s post because I am not the person who fakes empathy, but rather I struggle with shoveling out sympathetic response. Of course, when I hear about a tragedy, my natural sensitivity causes me to feel full ranges of emotions for the sufferers; however, I have trouble projecting these feelings outward to sympathize with the people who actually experienced tough trials. Because I am a natural empathizer, I have come to realize that it is a vital skill for relating to others and to help people to feel comfortable in new situations. By neglecting to act with sympathy, though, the cost of empathy can easily go unnoticed, preventing the collapse of social barrriers.