To provide sympathy or to solve the problem? What a dilemma. It seems like we should be able to do both. After all, isn’t sympathy helpful?
Doesn’t helping solve a problem demonstrate sympathy? Not exactly. With a little careful observation, one can see these two actions are actually opposed to each other.
Sympathizing means acknowledging the difficult, uncomfortable, painful situation or emotions a person is experiencing. For example, a person drops her ice cream cone on the ground.
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