I know exactly how you feel

Every time I hear that phrase my first thought is: Really? How?
I don’t mean to sound rude. But how can someone who has never walked in my shoes and felt the way I feel, gone through life the way I have, seen or heard the things I have, how can that person know how I feel?

More importantly:
*The way I have been raised
*The challenges I have been through in my life
*My character

All the things that make me unique, also make me react to a situation in a specific way. Makes me absorb things in my surrounding, differently than most. Maybe even makes me feel differently, then you. So let us drop the "I know exactly how you feel" phrase, because even if you mean well. Even if you are trying to act supportive. You do not know how I feel.
Maybe you think so, but you do not.

Next time you want to be supportive. Then pick something else to say, for instance:
I am so sorry for you.
Hopefully, you will feel better soon.
I am here for you.

Because those words would go so much further, than a lie.

~Serena~