 (Nick Galifianakis for The Post) | Adapted from an online discussion and continued from yesterday. Dear Carolyn: Yesterday's response has me thinking — what if I want to be the kind of person who is a sympathetic shoulder to cry on? Is that still not presenting myself honestly? As I think about it, there are plenty of situations where a friend calls me about a problem they're having and, while I'm happy to talk it out or to listen, I don't feel their pain. I feel bad that they feel bad, but sometimes my mind wanders or I wish I were doing something else or I selfishly wish Bad Thing weren't happening to them in part because it affects me or plans we had. But it's important to me to be there for them. It's not that being asked to be sympathetic bothers me, just that I feel like I'm not deeply feeling their pain, if that makes sense. I'm perfectly happy giving friends and my boyfriend all the sympathy they need, but I guess I don't know if it's abnormal or bad to not feel like I'm giving my all to that, or to wish I could be browsing Twitter instead, and whether it's something I should spend time exploring further. — Missing Empathy again | 
