Empathy

Here's something that challenged what I always believed empathy meant (read this phrase on the internet a few days ago):

"Empathy is not defined as feeling the same as another (that's codependency), but rather the ability to hear what another is saying and to tell them that you heard."

And I always thought of it the way the dictionary presented it to me:

"Empathy is the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner."

Well, the first phrase is probably the correct interpretation, because if you come to think of it, even if you've been there, done that, you can still only re-feel what you felt in your time, but you can never actually feel what the other person is feeling right now.

The company of me ...

Life in the fast lane (as is described by many) is quite typical of metros today. Your year is not made up of your cousin's wedding, or your parent's 30th wedding anniversary, or your niece's first birthday ... it is made up of weekdays and weekends (including those 10 stupid company holidays you get in a year and your 12 casual leaves, half of which usually go waste for most people, as they are too busy to use them). Sometimes you are so busy walking, you tend to forget what you started walking towards.

Nonetheless, it doesn't take much to reclaim it all. Ever taken a walk alone in the park, ever shopped (or window-shopped) alone, ever had a cafe-latte' with yourself, ever listened to your favorite music while penning your thoughts in a busy upbeat coffee-place, ever read your favorite book in your favorite hang-out place, ever played silently with a kid sitting across 2 tables away at a busy restaurant while sitting alone, try it ... might just work for you! Does for me ;)