Empathy :- You feel others situation in their own position and try to understand and help or advice.
Sympathy :- You actually have a opinion about others situation depending on your relation with that person and the perception of the situation with your experience.
This post is not about the definitions of these but it is all about the cost you are going to pay of having any one them. Actually speaking you may not bother about others situation which will not cost you anything. But life is like a wheel it turns and sometime it will stop in front of you where you have to act other wise you may lose so many things; this basic fear makes human a social animal who cares for at least his fellow friends and family or community members.
Costliest option among three
- Don’t Care – No cost
- Sympathy – Some Cost
- Empathy – Costliest
First option no explanation needed. Second one most of the time your sympathy stops at the level of your experience in life and relations. So it can never be costlier than empathy; which is by nature gets maximum out of you as you are feeling the situation as the actual person in that situation.
This is not a rocket science but there is some lesson to learn from this, you can be empathetic to others but be careful in helping because the person who cannot make use of your help and get good things out of life can take you into deep troubles. If you still cannot understand this post just post your doubts in comments I will try to answer them.
Good Luck