Understanding

Understand is such a common place word these days, but somehow I think it has lost a bit of it's meaning. It used to be a term of sympathy, of empathy really, to understand was to appreciate another point of view, to see a situation through the eyes of another. Now to understand is a dismissive word people use when what they really mean is I don't want to listen anymore, but that seems too harsh to say out loud. I understand means, I have reasoned a way to line up and box in your perspective so it fits within mine. While those two things may feel the same, they aren't. I guess that's why when you say I understand, it just isn't as comforting as it once was.