Dear empathetic person…

First and foremost, you’re empathetic, not empathic. You’re not an empath either. Only aliens are empaths. I see people calling themselves empaths, and I have been resisting the urge to DM them to correct the grammar. But on my blog, it’s a public service announcement haha.

That said, being overly empathetic is a very unhealthy way to live. 

If you want to survive and thrive in this crazy world full of chaos, you have to learn how to be detached to a certain degree. You can’t take up every cause, you can’t save everybody, you can’t be there for everyone. You can’t therapize everyone. 

You also should consider reducing your social media usage, and stay away from bad news. Extensively. There’ll always be bad news. You don’t need constant bombardment to know it sucks out in the world. Your salary will tell you. Angry people on the streets will tell you. The prices of food will tell you. You already live in a sad square meter of the universe.  Imbibing the bad news outside that radius is highly unnecessary. Allow yourself to soak in sunshine, and be mentally strong. Lean into who you are, don’t force feed your mind. Bad stuff doesn’t make anyone stronger, it only knocks down their coping ability and makes them hard people.

To truly really change the world, and this is for everyone, you have to focus on just yourself. It sounds counterintuitive. Change starts with one man, point that finger internally. Feeling everyone’s pain isn’t the flex we think it is. You’re always overwhelmed and everyones emotions paralyse you. You’re bombarded by triggers and this means you’ll be physically exhausted. You’ll end up underachieving in your personal life. Who does that help?

You need skills like resilience, self-awareness, and a splash of self-preservation. Be aggressively selfish with loving yourself. When you live authentically, you get stronger skin and show the world that it is possible to be a good person and still be happy. Living your life as authentically as possible is a hard mission and an inspiring one too. Focus on the inside, and then it’ll radiate outside. 

That’s change.