The true meaning of Sympathy, Empathy, and Compassion

Empathy, Sympathy, and Compassion are three words that many use interchangeably. It’s a legitimate mistake because these words can be confusing.

While these words are near cousins, they are not synonymous with one another. I will explain this starting with Sympathy, Empathy, and then Compassion.

Sympathy:

Hi, I am Sympathy my other name is 'Understanding' I get your entire POV, I know and understand what you are passing through even when I can't relate.

When a friend grieves over the loss of a loved one, you might send that friend a sympathy card. The card says that you are feeling sad along with your friend because your friend is grieving it doesn't necessarily mean that you can relate to what they are passing through at the moment, you only feel sad because they are sad and you understand that to lose a loved one is not an easy path to ride on.

Empathy:

"It's me Empathy; I feel your pain and understand what you are passing through, I've been there, I see it, I image it and I understand and feel you perfectly well. "

When you are viscerally feeling what another person feels, you are experiencing empathy. Thanks to your brain’s “mirror neurons,” empathy may arise automatically when you witness someone in pain. For example, if you saw a spider crawling up your arm, you may feel a tickle on your arm.

But what about when you don’t automatically feel the sensation of another? That’s where your imagination kicks in. You have most likely heard the phrase, “Put yourself in someone else’s shoes.” That’s the other route to empathy.

For example, perhaps you saw me slam my fingers into a car door, but you didn’t automatically feel that pain. Instead, you can imagine what it might be like to have your fingers slammed into a door, and that may allow you to feel my pain.

Just so you know, empathy isn’t reserved for unpleasant feelings only. You can feel empathy when you witness the joy, too. Isn’t it great when someone walks in the room smiling, and that makes you smile?

Empathy suggests the notion of projection. You have empathy for a person when you can imagine how they might feel based on what you know about that person, despite not having those feelings explicitly communicated. The sentiment behind empathy is often presented in the familiar idiom "to put (oneself) in another's shoes."

Compassion :

Hey!, I am Compassion a.k.a Connection. I kick empathy and sympathy up a notch."

When you are compassionate, you feel the pain of another (i.e., empathy) or you recognize that the person is in pain (i.e., sympathy), and then you do what you can alleviate the person’s suffering." Compassion is the willingness to relieve the suffering of another.

When you’re compassionate, you’re not running away from suffering, you’re not feeling overwhelmed by suffering, and you’re not pretending the suffering doesn’t exist. When you are practicing compassion, you can stay present with suffering.

Constructs of sympathy, empathy, and compassion contain distinct themes and sub-themes. Compassion enhanced the key facets of empathy while adding distinct features of being motivated by love, the selfless role of the responder, action, and small, supererogatory acts of kindness. unlike sympathy, empathy and compassion were beneficial, with compassion being the most preferred and impactful.

Each of these emotions is expressed by humans in different situations.

I hope these few lines have given you a vivid insight into what these three words are and I hope that you, my friend will know when to apply which.