Entering Empathy

The first day of spring. 12 years ago. It was the day we got married.

I am grateful to God for my family. Grateful for my wife. Grateful for our kids we are raising together.

Now looking at the screen and I am trying to sum up my experience before and after marriage. As hard as it seems, the closest I can come up is the word empathy.

We come to the world totally dependant on our parents. They take care of us for many years until one day we stand on our own. We as kids have more common with those birds who fly away from their nest for the first time.

What we want is the indepence. Freedom to do what we want. Yet freedom on its own doesn’t get you so far. Going into a relationship with someone for a long term may not rhyme with freedom.

You are not free any more. You are not lonely any more either. Stories of life are waiting for you. Sleepless night are waiting for you. Unforgettable memories are waiting for you.

Behind that door. The key to that door is empathy.

Empathy is speaking and listening between the lines. It is putting your self in someone elses shoes. Seeing the word from his or her worldwiew.

Once you do that, your horizon broadens a little bit. You become larger than yourself. You begin to care not only for yourself. You become a family.