If there is one thing that difficulty offers, it's value. Whether it's the skills, characteristics, or traits you develop, it's the friction of hardship that makes you a more resilient and competent person.
But when someone deals with hardship--losing a job, or worse a loved one, dealing with some financial struggles, going through an emotional rollercoaster, or whatever battle there is--the outside world mourns. You're supposed to meet them with sympathy and compassion. There's nothing wrong with that, but don't forget the beauty those types of tragedy and hardship carry.
Maybe when someone is going through a difficult time, or you're going through a rough patch yourself, you should adopt the words Roman Philosopher Epictetus advised to his students,
"Why don't I get to face the kind of challenge he did? I am growing old in a corner, when I could be winning a crown at Olympia? When will I be nominated for a similar trial?"
The trials shape you. Without hard times, you can't strengthen your vehicle. So maybe the attitude you should have toward hardship, for yourself and others, should be less about sympathy and more about gratitude.
Be grateful for tough times because without them, you wouldn't know what you're capable of. You won't know the type of person you could be. You won't become the strong, resilient person hidden inside of you. Neither will those around you.
The purpose isn't to get rid of empathy entirely, but to balance it with love for the misfortune because if you can't love the struggle, it can never make you the person you were meant to be.
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You can check out the podcast on the wisdom of Epictetus.
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