Empathy

Empathy comes easy for "neuro-typicals" or those who don't have autism or Asperger syndrome. Basically, I have a hard time looking at situations from another person's point of view, basically seeing things through their eyes and feeling what they are feeling. The idiom, "put yourself in my shoes" is relating to empathy and sensitivity. I have had to learn this skill and to this day, in a way, I still lack the concept of empathy because when someone is feeling sad or mad or whatever the emotion may be, I have a hard time actually understanding what they feel or what they're going through unless they verbalize it or vocalize it in some kind of way. To rephrase what I said, I am generally not an insensitive person, but there are quite a few insensitive streaks within me which causes me to make insensitive or somehow inappropriate comments. These result in one of two things, either that I highly offended someone or that I wind up in trouble (quite possibly both in certain scenarios). It's something that I need to work on because someday I would like to help/take care of someone who needs it (i.e. a sick animal, an elderly person, a cancer patient). Being compassionate and having empathy are somewhat different, and at the same time, they both go hand and hand. I will eventually discuss the similarities and differences between the two. Thanks everyone.