Empathy (Part II)

This is my second post of the day, so it would probably be advantageous for you to scroll down and read the first post...first. It will be on the same subject, so it shouldn't be hard to find.

The only complaint I have with being an empathetic person comes on the competitive field. I am much more likely to give someone the benefit of the doubt. Calling ticky-tack fouls on myself on the basketball court, playing a ball that clearly missed the line or not questioning someone that has clearly cheated me. Unfortunately, this also extends to the teams that I root for. Perennial losers, Cleveland sports teams get my support year after year. This happens not because I enjoy disappointment, but because I can forgive them, because to a certain extent I know what it's like to be a loser.

For this one downfall of empathy, it has major benefits in my life. People tell me things. I don't look to be an ear for people to throw private information to, it just somehow happens that way. The only thing I can think is because I have shown an ability to listen with emotion and care about what the other person is saying. This helps when being friends with people. It also happens with people I don't know too. As a counselor at kids camp one year, I came across a girl that I hadn't seen up to that point in the week. She was off by herself, sobbing hysterically. I had an obligation as a leader of the camp to go and talk to her, but that is not what made me do so. I felt compelled to comfort her. After a couple minutes of crying because she missed home, she was ready to rejoin the group. I was comforted by the fact that she was put to ease.

The area with which I view empathy as a gift within my own life is in the classroom. When I graduated college and got my first job, I was pretty rubbish in the classroom. I will fully admit that. However, because I had such love for the kids, I wanted to become better. I love that there are still many of my student-teaching students that remember me fondly (even though I believe I may have done irreparable harm to them as learners) and still many of my students from SCS remember me.

I praise the Lord for blessing me with a gift that has two sides to it. There are disappointments that come from empathy, but there is also joy.