A doctor entered the hospital in hurry after being called in for an urgent surgery. He found the boy’s father pacing anxiously, waiting for him.
Seeing him, the father yelled, “Why did you take so long to get here? Don’t you know that my son’s life is in danger? Don’t you have the sense of responsibility?”
The doctor said calmly with a gentle smile, “I am sorry, I wasn’t in the hospital and I came the fastest I could, after receiving the call.
I know it is tough, but take a deep breath and calm down.”
“Calm down?! What if your son was in this room right now, would you calm down? If you felt that you would lose your son, what would you do?”
said the father angrily.
The doctor smiled again and replied: “I believe that life and death are in the hands of God and we can only do so much.
Go and pray for your son, we will do our best by God’s grace.”
“Sympathy is so much easier than empathy. It is easy to dismiss someone else’s trials because they aren’t your own”, muttered the father.
After a long while, the doctor came out of the operating room. “I’ve got good news! Your son is saved! If you have any questions please ask the nurse.”
And without waiting for the father’s reply, he immediately rushed off.
“What a cold and unfeeling man!” exclaimed the man, “He couldn’t even wait a few minutes so that I could ask him about my son.”
Hearing him, the nurse replied, “The doctor’s son has been extremely ill for many weeks, but as soon as he received the call about your son,
he immediately rushed to the hospital. Now that he is confident that your son is safe, the doctor's hurrying back to be with his son.”
How many times do we make wrong assumptions, when we only look at things from our own point of view?
Just as we expect empathy from others, it would fare us even better if we can empathise with others as well.
Let’s make it a point to give others the benefit of doubt and…
