Do you want chocolate?

Emily was mad about chocolate. She loved to eat them and had a habit of eating chocolates every single day. At the start of every month, she would go to the supermarket to buy many packets of chocolates for herself that she could eat for the entire month. She would not give her chocolates to anyone else and would have them all by herself. But Emily’s love for chocolate was starting to cause a serious problem for her.

Her habit of eating chocolates every single day started giving her tooth problems. She had developed a lot of cavities and had to go for dental checkups regularly. The dentist told her many times to reduce the amount of chocolate that she ate, but Emily found it very difficult to get rid of her delicious habit. When her parents tried to control her habit, Emily started throwing tantrums. She used to not eat food and sometimes even got ill because of it, so her parents never really tried to force this habit down.

So, Emily and her love for chocolate continued for a very long time. And instead of reducing, it kept on increasing as the days passed. One day, when Emily was sitting at the bus stop waiting for her bus, she thought of having some chocolates. She took out a few chocolates from her bag and as she started unwrapping one to eat, she saw a poor, homeless kid standing beside a pole and looking at her. As she ate the chocolate she saw the kid salivating, she felt that the kid really wanted to have the chocolate, but could not afford one. She went to the kid, kept her hand full of chocolates in front of him, and said, “Do you want chocolate?” The kid smiled, took the chocolate, and started eating. Emily got a very warm and joyous feeling looking at the kid eating the chocolate.

The next day when she came to the bus stop, she was looking for the kid. She saw him sitting near the same pole, this time with a lot of other kids. She went there, and as the kid saw her, he came to her and asked for the chocolate. As Emily gave him the chocolate, the other kids also came. She gave chocolates to all of them and today, her feeling of joy was even more.

Slowly, she started sharing the chocolates that she bought for herself with these poor kids. It was more pleasurable for her to share the chocolates with those who were unable to afford them, rather than eating alone. Now, every month she bought chocolates, and she went and distributed them to the children. Due to this, her habit of eating too many chocolates decreased greatly and her tooth problems also vanished. Not only that, but Emily, for the first time in her life, experienced the joy of helping someone empathetically.

What we learnt

Empathy is when you feel what someone else might be feeling. This way, when we realize the other’s problem, we try to help them without any favor in return. Sharing gives us satisfaction and joy, increases the bond that we share, and spreads love.