Monday mornings come way to fast. There are a lot of F-words I could expound on for today’s A2Z Challenge. I’ve had a few people at work drop the f-bomb on me. There was a time back in the day when I used to drop the F-bomb quite frequently and it didn’t bother me so much as it does now. Now it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Isn’t that funny?
I battled back and forth through the night with what to base today’s challenge on. Fighting doesn’t seem like an empathetic word. Faithful is definitely a word that might involve empathy. Something happened over the weekend that made me realize that for me, being empathetic isn’t condoning something that is wrong. Someone pointed out to me that I wasn’t being very empathetic over a situation that happened.
Ever since Eve succumbed to the serpent’s lies in the Garden, the battle of wills began. Gaining control over another. We all want it. We all want to be right, even when we’re wrong. Even when we break the law.
Maybe I’m wrong on this one, and I think I mentioned when I started this theme that I struggled with being empathetic at times, and was hoping to gain insight. I have to admit that I can’t empathize with stupidity. “Oh I know it’s against the law, but that doesn’t apply to me, so I’m gonna do it anyways.” (This is just an example, it is not the situation that happened, but someone did break the law). A person robs a bank, gets shot by the police and now is laying in a hospital bed fighting to survive a gunshot wound. I feel sorry for that person, but I have no empathy for them. Maybe some people have that. I don’t. That person is an idiot who chose to break the law, hence they need to deal with the consequences.
I asked for spiritual discernment, even prayed for it and God is faithful. He will answer our prayers. Sometimes it’s tough to see what I see in people and I wish I didn’t. But I can’t give it back. It’s like seeing a dead animal or an accident on the side of the road. You can’t not look after you look. I’ve learned now if I see an animal in the road ahead in the distance, I look away or close my eyes until we are past it. I know that sounds incredibly silly but my heart hurts to see a dead domestic animal in the road. Why would someone hit an animal and then leave it to die? Why can’t pet owners take better care of their pets? Not that wild animals have any less value than a domestic animal…they all have same, but my heart just can’t take the trauma of seeing it anymore. I wish sometimes I could look away from what I see in people.
We get to choose the battles we want to fight and the ones that aren’t worth putting in the effort. People who think rules don’t apply to them won’t sit high on my empathy list. They need the chip knocked off their shoulder. Everyone is different and everyone has a different story to tell. That’s what makes us all so important in God’s eyes. He gave each one of us a story to tell and made us all special in different ways. We get to faithfully fight forever in the battles we chose to engage in.
Empathy involves understanding and sharing the feelings of another person while sympathy is feeling sorry for someone and their situation without sharing their feelings.
What situations do you struggle with when you should be empathetic but you are sympathetic instead? I’d love to read your examples so that I know I’m not alone.
Cheers,
CRACKERBERRIES 