Empathy through Suffering

A reader wanted to know why I  chose to support Chang in his cancer journey. I would say that Chang had many supporters who helped him by lending him resources such as books, gave him financial support as well as provide a listening ear. There are actually many kind people out there. I believe blogging also helped him to keep focused and he said it was therapeutic.

Whenever he singled out a therapy, he would pass a copy of the writeups to his brother to read, digest and comment.  Chang liked to listen to various angles but he always had his own way of thinking. 

In the early days, he wanted to get the feedback of other cancer patients who had tried The Gerson Therapy but  could not find it.  And that spurred him to start the blog. This also sums up my reasons for offering him support. It was also from my past, difficult experiences that I understood the importance of support in times of difficulties. And I learned to be empathetic towards others. I would have done the same for any other friend.

The difficult experiences of our lives shape us and make us grow, not the easy times. It is much like polishing a rough diamond. It is very tough to get through but we gain so much strength, wisdom and insight from it. And from there, we are much better able to empathise with others' pain and suffering.

I think that there is a reason for everything but I suppose the important thing is to be able to learn from our experiences and use it to benefit our family, friends and society at large. Then, our suffering would not have been in vain....