Understanding Empathy vs. Sympathy

     Many people confuse the words empathy and sympathy and what they mean. Most people know that sympathy involves feeling and have pity for someone else. An example of this would be losing a family member and have all your friends feel sorry for you and grieve for you. Recently I have finally learned and understood the meaning of empathy. Empathy is being able to understand a situation using one's intellect to imagine the setting of the situation. I want to become a pilot when I grow up and being delayed or late is not an option. All of my passengers have schedules to stick to, like for example a business man may have an important financial meeting shortly after his flight and being late may result in a loss financially for him. I must do everything in my control to make sure that the flight is on time and that everyone is satisfied. Understanding empathy is such an important skill to have not just to perform a job better but to also understand history. Before the civil war southern states allowed for the use of slaves and today it seems so horrible but people have to understand that the south had a lot of farms and needed a lot hands to help out. Also slaves were a large part in the southern economy because they were so expensive and trading them and selling were a big deal. Below is an image that demonstrates what empathy really means.