Feeling Overwhelmed?
It has been quite a year so far. The first week with a new president and we are facing many changes. If you are worried about changes or feeling overwhelmed, you are not alone. It is not easy to face these issues daily, hourly, sometimes every minute if you are following social media.
Empathy
Empathy is defined on Wikipedia:
Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within the other being’s frame of reference, i.e., the capacity to place oneself in another’s position. It is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another and feelings with the heart of another.
Are you an Empath?
Our own feelings can sometimes be more than enough. How are we supposed to make room for what someone else feels? By understanding that we are all worried. By understanding that we are all experiencing fear regardless of our beliefs.
Empathy in Today’s World
The images we see are so intense and can lead to feeling overwhelmed. Check out this link to read about some steps to feel less overwhelmed. The news that we see each day, about politics, environment, animals. healthcare, gender, human rights and cultural communities. We are all impacted by these stories, perhaps some more than others.
You Are Not Alone
If a person is impacted by what they read, hear, see or feel, it means they are not alone. Even the ideas we do not believe in belong to another human being. If you sat next to this person on the bus, you would most likely smile and say hello. If you knew who that person voted for, would this change your kindness towards them? I suspect not.
We can disagree, but must remember that we are all human beings trying to make our way in the world. Easier said than done, I agree, but my intention is to hold this idea close as I live each day.
The picture below is from the Denver Martin Luther King, Jr. Marade.
