Role Of Empathy And Sympathy In A Relationship
Empathy and sympathy are similar words with different meanings. If we don’t have these two in us then we are not able to love and care for the people around us, whether we are in a love relationship or other. It is a human quality. Sympathy and empathy differ in their meaning and if not fulfilled leads to mental distress and conflicts.
Sympathy is when we feel pity for the other person’s situation. When someone is in a bad situation and we sympathize with him, he will feel cared for. Sympathy is always counted as a positive trait a person can have for others. If we don’t have sympathy for others, our ability to care about them would be impaired.
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Empathy is when we understand the other person emotionally. It is that we are feeling what they are feeling at that very moment. Empathy allows you to understand the person fully, with a lot of compassion in it. With empathy we can understand the pain and suffering, he is going through.
Being sympathetic means my situation is better than yours. There is a thought that the person is in a horrible situation and we feel sorry for him, although we have never been in such a situation. This does not mean that the person is bad but this will drive the person to help the person in need.
When you are empathetic it means that you are placing that placing yourself in the other person's place and feeling the way he is feeling. Being empathetic means that you are no more sorry for the person because you are right there for him when he requires you. The person will feel more understood and loved.
Empathy and sympathy in a relationship
When you are in a relationship with someone, all you need is love, care, and understanding. When you feel pity for someone you love with the thought that you feel sorry for them, it can really hurt them. When you feel sorry for people it feels great but the same does not go with your partners. Because with this you are telling them that you are better with them which can leave them disheartened, hurt, and disconnected from you. When this happens many times in your relationship, you may become emotionally disconnected from each other because you feel that your partner doesn’t understand you and you make yourself disconnected with your partner. Now it is the time for you to understand that instead of giving sympathy you should shift your attention to empathy.
Although you are not gone through the same situation you want to know the feelings and emotions of the other person who went through the pain and suffering. In this way, you are making the person feel special, understood, and loved.
Although the difference between the two is not much when you use empathy in place of sympathy, the bond between you and your partner will become stronger than ever before. This beautiful bond will make your relationship happy. Just remember one thing that your partner is in need to be understood and not pitied.
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