It is hard to imagine what other people go through in their lives; even if we were there, our perspective can never be the same as someone else's, no matter how empathetic we are and try to be. Putting ourselves in other people’s shoes is impossible, but we can try and get close. Empathy is achieved through listening and caring, picturing what someone is saying in your mind, and using your imagination to put their words into a picture, which is where you can feel empathy. However, ideally, thinking of or imagining the real moment or event is impossible. Still, even so, we can try to understand someone else's situation by putting ourselves in an alternate version of their situation or their shoes.
Empathy is having a world-building mindset or imagination; creating a world in our minds takes creativity and the ability to use it. Empathy is the ability to share someone’s emotions or feelings. You need to be creative and able to listen to gain an understanding of what someone is feeling.
Sympathy is feeling for someone, while empathy is feeling something someone else is feeling, to feel with them rather than for them. It is a form of understanding between two people, even if it can never be a proper understanding. I spoke with my girlfriend this evening about this topic, and she finds sympathy to be easy compared to empathy; she is the least creative person I know, and I love her for it. I’m up in the clouds, and she brings me back down to earth when I need to focus and be logical rather than theoretical. She’s always rational and follows a formula while I help her develop ideas for whatever she needs.