Jimt if I may relate a personal experience,
I've had a chronic illness for the last nine years. The first couple years I had it, I kind of resented healthy people. I wanted everyone to feel sorry for me. To understand. This caused me to become very bitter and I ended up pushing people away who could have been my friends.
What I came to realize is that this the hand that I was dealt, and I had to play it. Expecting anyone else to understand was not going to help me do that. And, as Dee touched on, people have their own unique challenges they have to deal with.
I think we need to own our harships and embrace our unique challenges and welcome understanding from others, but not necessarily expect it.
And I should note: it's when I stopped expecting understanding from others that I actually started to recieve it!
You get what you give