Sympathy, Empathy, Pity and Compassion: Understanding the Difference

I recently had a discussion with a friend about compassion. After talking with her, I realized that there are so many people out there who don’t really understand the difference between sympathy, empathy, pity and compassion; and there is a very distinct difference.  There are lots of people who believe they are compassionate, but do they know what it truly means to be compassionate? I would say that most people experience sympathy, empathy or pity and confuse that with compassion. This realization inspired me to write this blog today.