Confronting Compassion Fatigue
The world we live in faces many tragedies and injustices. It can be hard to endure caring about everything that needs our care and attention. A true tragedy of all this is that those of us who care the most are beaten down more by all that is happening around us. As such, we need to figure out ways to endure this state of being (as it shows no signs of slowing down) and find strategies to still feel like we're making a positive impact in our lives.
Finding Balance
A common axiom nowadays, but it bears repeating; we must find a balance and harmony that works for our lives. Bringing together work, life, sleep, diet, exercise, fun, and committing to the causes we care about. The coalescing of all these things will be unique to each of us, and we can't base our lives on someone else's model. We can find inspiration from tips and tricks, but it will never work to always be comparing ourselves to those around us. When it comes to compassion fatigue, it may feel like we can never do as much as other people, and that can bring us down.
Seeking Focus
There is a lot going in that we can now have insight into that we never had before. We can be witnessing, engaged, and assisting in a cause anywhere in the world. With this gift of access, may come an overwhelming feeling of there being too much for us to handle. It's important to find focus so that we can give more of ourselves and better help to the cause at hand. That can still mean working globally if you like, it may also mean working more locally and hands on. It could be working for environmental sustainability, or women's rights, or fighting homelessness. Spreading ourselves and our limited emotional energy too thin won't be for the best in the long run.
Determining Satisfaction
Many of us (myself included) tend to want immediate, major change on the issues we care about. But unfortunately, sustainable change often takes time, effort, and coalitions rather than just a radical shift because some people want it. So we need to find contentment in the small victories and milestones, and by making positive impacts in our daily lives. Helping one person, changing one person's mind, securing your first funding grant. It all matters and it all will help you towards your ultimate goal.
No one needs to be a paragon of a sole issue, but there is value in focus and balance. There is also value in our emotions, empathy, and having an open heart. It can help to compel us to do the right thing and persist even when the going gets tough.
I feel this quote is a good place to end on and captures the spirit of this post well: