Empathy for the Unknown

I often find myself feeling empathetic for strangers.

When something tragic happens to a family member, a friend, a co-worker or anyone that we know personally, it is typical to feel sadness. And, likewise, when something wonderful happens to a family member, a friend, a co-worker or anyone that we know personally, it is typical to feel happiness. But, take a moment to think about how the tragedies and wondrous experiences of strangers can (and should) effect how we feel.

Today, while reading my local newspaper online, it seemed that there was a lot of hardship, adversity and negativity in the world. It inflicted feelings of anger and shock - why is the world the way it is? It also made me feel quite heavyhearted. I read about domestic disputes, attempted murders, accidental child fatalities, vehicle crashes, slumlord landlords and the unprecedented collapse of a building. I find that tragedies such as these, despite their infliction being upon people I've never met and likely will never know, caused me to think and feel in very powerful ways.

Here's my take on the hierarchal impact of empathy for the unknown:

• When we're children, the bad that happens to others is bad because we are told it is. We may be told this by a parent, a teacher or a family member. We react how we are told to and/or how it is modeled for us. At this tender age though, the sad feelings we get from bad experiences such as losing our favorite toy can often have the same effect on us as a crying best friend who just lost their beloved family pet. To "feel" for strangers is done solely through adult prompting. 
• When we are teens, we understand the different layers of bad. We dislike hearing of when negative things happen to others. The empathy instilled within us as children begins to show. But, we are at times so much more concerned and consumed with ourselves that the depth of bad inflicted on someone else may not deeply resonate with us. This is the age of societally-embraced self-focusness and with that, to "feel" for strangers is, albeit done, potentially short-liveed.
• Once we reach adulthood, our empathy truly evolves into what we allow it to. We look at others' tragedies and can imagine how it would make us feel if it were to happen to us. We realize that people are more than just people - they are someone's mother, someone's son, someone's spouse, etc. And, while our ability to "feel" sorry for them and to want to help them or even simply to prevent such travesty can be genuine, people grow to become empathetic for others, especially the unknown, on widely distributed levels. No two people will likely empathize exactly alike. 

What is your level ... of empathy for the unknown? Do you take things that occur to people throughout the world with a grain of salt? Do you allow them to effect the choices you make? For me, I'd like to think that the feelings of anger, shock, heavyheartedness and confusion that I felt reading my local newspaper this morning can be used today as empowerment towards creating for a better tomorrow. I believe that whether the complete strangers I see at the store, driving in the car next to me, walking down my street or being referenced in the paper are deserving of being acknowledged, at minimum, as being someone's loved one. And, if I feel by taking the extra minute to allow my mind to process that, to think about the worth of a complete stranger, my optimism, my outlook, my smile, my ear may be the butterfly effect that in turn enables a stranger's frown to turn start to turn upside down.