I am a Certified Public Accountant by trade. I tell people that accounting is what I do in my spare time. I don’t know that I would call myself your typical CPA, but I am very analytical – very left-brained. I am not a “touchy-feely” type person. In fact, one of the biggest adjustments I had to make when I started dating my wife is that she comes from a hugging family. That took a little getting used to. I am not a very emotional person, though I do feel things deeply. I struggle with “finding the right words” when talking to hurting people. Let’s just say that empathy is not a gifting that I received from God. That is not to say I am incapable of it, I just have to work a little harder than my right-brained friends who seem to fit naturally in those tough situations.
That’s why I was excited to read the article Not “Touchy-Feely?” Here’s How to Comfort Hurts by Dr. Julie Barrier (http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/dr-julie-barrier/not-touchy-feely-heres-how-to-comfort-hurts.html). In that article, Dr. Barrier explains:
If you are left-brained you may tend to be less empathetic than your right-brained “touchy-feely” compadres …Perhaps it is more difficult for a systematic, consequential thinker to read what is going on in another person’s heart. So…how do you express comfort and empathize with those who are hurting when comforting doesn’t come easily?
