From Schadenfreude with Miami to Empathy with Dallas

People have been throwing the term schadenfreude around an awful lot these past couple days. And sure, deriving pleasure from the misfortune of others is generally a poor quality to carry.  But while yesterday was a day for those who felt particularly scorned by LeBron last summer to partake in a little schadenfreude, today is a day for a different emotion. Today is a day for empathy. Far too often empathy is confused with sympathy. Today I am not feeling sorry for anyone. In fact, quite the opposite. Today, I am sharing in the vicarious joy of Dallas fans. My empathetic joy comes from reading all the articles, blog posts, comments, etc on all the Dallas related media today. This isn’t the first time I’ve felt this way. I’m generally happy for fans of any team that has a passionate and suffering fan base. It’s certainly easy for us Cleveland fans to relate. I remember when the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, their 2nd ever and their first since 1980, how happy I felt for the ...