Challenges of Being Both Strong and Empathic

A World of Overloaded Empaths

At a time when everyone has a cause and an opinion, and is voicing them loudly, Empaths are being particularly challenged to stay true to their own path while offering compassion on a global scale. Though our hearts are tugged by the quantity and magnitude of atrocities being perpetuated by and against humankind, we know it isn’t so much it’s new, as the importance of each and every situation is being elevated to the level it belongs. Still, none of us can possibly support every atrocity; every cause with our full attention and energy.

There comes a point where, no matter how strong and capable you are, you have to exercise self care in the strictest sense, and see to your own needs and causes first. While the voices in your head and heart clamor for attention, you serve none by trying to serve all. Hard as it might be, you have to make some hard choices, not only to maintain your own sanity, but to be of value to the people and things you consider most important.

Many of my friends; all strong women, and Empaths, have reached a crisis of the conscience, just as I have. We all truly care about the people who are being mistreated, neglected, or worse, but only have so much of ourselves to give, and have had to make a conscious decision to focus our energy and attention. It may appear from the outside that we don’t care enough about what’s important to other people. The truth is, we care so much about it all that we know we serve them better by picking a direction and staying the course rather than scattering our energies to the winds.

Staying in Your Own Lane for Greater Effect

The beauty of it is, each of us has been called to help right a particular wrong or two. Strong, Empathic women exist in every corner of the world where they focus their attention and energy on the issues they feel most strongly about. By exercising passion as well as empathy, those energies are supercharged instead of scattered.

When we jump from one cause to the next, none of that energy every attaches enough to make a real difference before we jump to something else. In my opinion, we’re actually doing more harm than good by failing to choose our causes carefully, and remain true to them through every storm, and every missile that’s hurled our way in an effort to shake us loose.

Clinging to what we believe in strongly, and connecting with others who share our passion gives everyone more strength to continue to work to right the wrongs. We bring others together by exhibiting a unity and a consistent adherence to our beliefs. That isn’t to say we don’t listen to opposing viewpoints. It would be foolish to ignore them as it helps us understand why there are opposing viewpoints in the first place. You can’t understand how to get past a road block until you see what it’s made of and how to cause it to cease efforts that conflict with your own—or in some cases, recognize your own ideas and ideals need to be reworked.

Putting Understanding Before Action

Each block, whether mental or physical requires a different kind of effort to clear. You can’t shout down a wall of ice, nor will you be likely to break through one of stone with a flame-thrower. When faced with people who are easily roused to anger, or whose minds are closed from generations of conditioning, trying to force them to see things your way will meet with failure at best, and a vicious backlash at worse. The best you can hope for at that point is to gather your scattered forces, back away, and regroup.

Sure, you can rouse a lot of people who understand why you’re angry, but as it’s not their own true focus, they’ll only remain on board until someone else rouses their sympathies and ire. Once they jump ship, your forces will be in a shambles, and resurrecting your original momentum is impossible. The masses continue to attach themselves to the next big thing.

Remaining focused and working with those who feel as strongly as you do means the energy and attention may be smaller, but it’s consistent. One, giant push might not break through a rock wall, but a continuous, persistent effort can, especially since it doesn’t alert the builders of the wall to bring in reinforcements. Instead, you subtly wear away at the resistance while their attention is elsewhere, perceiving no threats to their values and beliefs.

Consider how you feel when someone viciously attacks your own, long-held beliefs. The first thing you do is go into resistance. If they keep pushing, you build your walls higher, and become even less responsive to the message they’re trying to impart. You shore up any cracks in your arguments, and flat out ignore anything that doesn’t jive with what you believe to be true, fact-based or not.

Every Issue is an Emotional One

Today, people on both sides of some pretty intense issues are using emotions to hold their line; rousing people into a frenzy over stories both true and false, flinging passion-charged bombs into just the right crowd to elicit the desired response, and ultimate level of resistance or aggression. The result is thousands of virtual pissing matches where there are lots of casualties, and no winners. In fact, in many cases, those being fought for are in worse shape than they were before attention was temporarily focused on their plight. I suspect there are more than a few who aren’t thinking the masses for putting them in the spotlight for a few moments.

It might seem like me and many others who’ve finally figured out the game are heartless and uncaring. We have to bear that burden, knowing full well that by focusing our energy and attention in fewer directions, we’re doing the most thoughtful and caring thing we can, not only for the things we support, but for all the others as well. We’re giving them the gifts of flying under the radar, and being able to wear away slowly rather than putting all their energy into an explosion that will meet with equal or greater resistance.

Such tactics will do nothing more than exhaust both sides, give the advantage back to the stronger one, and ultimately, maintain the status quo. What’s broken will remain broken, and will continue to rot from the inside out until something stronger comes along to steamroll over the remains, and once again, rewrite history to suit the winners.

Gratitude Strengthens Your Heart

My gratitudes today are:

1. I’m grateful I’m learning to conserve and focus my energies.
2. I’m grateful for friends who understand none of us is capable of successfully fighting for every cause, and much choose what’s important to us so we can each put our passion behind our beliefs.
3. I’m grateful for quiet days to clear my space, rest and regroup, or increase my efforts.
4. I’m grateful for healthy habits which are keeping me sane through times which push the limits of “normal” to the breaking point.
5. I’m grateful for abundance; love, caring, joy, friendship, compassion, focus, passion, incentives, understanding, peace, balance, health, harmony, philanthropy, and prosperity.

Love and Light

 

About the Author

Sheri Conaway is a Holistic Ghostwriter, and an advocate for cats and mental health. Sheri believes in the Laws of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful and help entrepreneurs touch the souls of their readers and clients so they can increase their impact and their income. If you’d like to have her write for you, please visit her Hire Me page for more information. You can also find her on Facebook Sheri Levenstein-Conaway Author or in her new group, Putting Your Whole Heart Forward