What can you do with the feeling that so much is wrong and you should be doing more to help? Read on…
A Reader writes:
The biggest stressor for me these days is events out there in the world. My negative inner voice says I’m not doing enough to help. It’s so painful to feel how much the world needs healing and that I’m not contributing enough.
Dear Reader:
I know! If you’re a sensitive and empathic person – and it sounds like you are – it can be very painful to look out there at so much that needs healing and help.
Our bodies are built to give us signals when something isn’t right… signals like tension, constricted breathing, aching in the throat like something needs to be cried out. Feeling scattered or numb or driven are also symptoms of something being wrong.
It’s important to receive those messages… even if we don’t know yet what we can do to respond.
If you’re watching the news and you see reports that bring up sadness and fear, it’s important to say to your feelings: “I really hear you.”
Our feelings make sense. They always have. And maybe we haven’t always honored them and listened to them. Acknowledging your feelings is Step One.
Once you’ve made a safe space inside you for your own feelings, Step Two is to look for ways you can contribute to healing. It’s a big job. No one person can do it all. Your part of it will be relatively small. And that’s OK.
I invite you to feel the rightness of doing what you can, doing what fits your skills, doing what is in front of you to do. Joining with others. Being kind to others and yourself. What you do matters. Stay present. The next steps will emerge….
