I am Empathetic, not an Empath...

This is an Empath from the series Star Trek....I am not one of these.

 Many people have all sorts of different trials through out their lives and they rely on someone to help them or listen to them. Some people, who can afford it, hire a counselor or psychologist. Others pour their emotions into a journal. Some bottle it up and explode at people for the most miniscule of things. Or, a person finds a friend and relies on that friend to listen to them. That’s where I come in.

“Throughout the trials in my life I always try to be the strong one, with a stiff upper lip so that others can lean on me and depend on me for whatever they need. I’ve been doing this since I was 8 years old. I don’t know why I always choose to help others mourn and grieve rather than grieve myself.”

 It was upon writing this paragraph in the first draft of this personal reflection that I realized why I choose to help others. I realized whom I am and what I was born to do. I was born to be empathetic, to help people who can’t help themselves. I believe I was put on this earth to help strengthen the weak. I believe God has given me the strength to be strong for myself through being strong for others. The trials I face help me be more empathetic. The trials that others face who need a shoulder to cry on or need just some emotional support, helps me become more empathetic. Sometimes though, it gets overwhelming. I believe when too many things are going on at once I isolate myself from the environment surrounding me. I become numb to the waves of emotions that the moon of people seems to be propelling on to me. I just emotionally shut down. It is very scary and I get really depressed. But I soon snap out of it and get back to being everyone’s counselor.

 There was one instance where I wasn’t expecting my empathetic traits to stand in the way of my every day life; it was very much outside of my normal routine. I was sitting at home on the couch in my living room researching a topic for debate. I believe the topic was about something in the Middle East. When I clicked on one website and read what the extremist thought of Christians like my self I was angry at first, very briefly, and then I became scared and sad. Then I researched more about extremists in the Middle East a picture popped up of a woman who had been brutally beaten by her husband who was one of the extremists. I got really confused. Because in the category of debate I was in you had to have cases for both sides of the argument and you decided which one you would use with a coin toss. Because I am such an empathetic creature I empathized with both pro and neg cases. I became confused and nothing made sense I spun into a state of depression because I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t just make my mind up about which side I agree with. That was when I decided to stop doing debate because I would go to bed crying every night because I was so confused, and there was so much hate in the world that it was just awful and overwhelming. That was one instance my empathy surprised me.

From the Virtual World to the Real One, Join in the Conversation

Post #3 – Write a well-developed paragraph on the following question:  How can you use your talents and interests to “join the conversation” online?    Make sure to title your post to reflect the meaning and essence of your writing.  Add a visual element.

 Joining the conversation, especially online, is a very valuable skill to have in terms of communication to co-worker, higher ups, and just in general. Joining the conversation, I believe, is harder to do in real life. There’s always that pit in my stomach when I want to add my two cents to the discussion and sometimes I chicken out and don’t join the discussion because I'm afraid of rejection or complete judgment. Online, however, I believe it is easer to join the conversation. Because if you join in on a discussion online then if you do get rejected or judges you can just go to a different site and just leave the discussion. I think sharpening my talent of being able to join conversations online will help me join conversations face to face because I will be more comfortable with critical feedback and feel safer knowing that if I can have the courage to say this online then I can certainly have the courage to say it in real life. 

Better Failures and Winnie the Pooh Bear

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.

Samuel Beckett

 This quote is more than a quote to me. It’s a lifestyle. When I was younger I would always compare my self worth to the trial accomplishes of others. If I were in a higher math then that person I would figure my self better and smarter than that person. If I were in a lower math than that person I would think myself stupid and unimportant. It wasn’t until I heard this quote that I realized I can’t judge people on what the do or do not succeed at because its not fair to them. I wouldn’t want to be judged at failing at something because I tried and I failed better the second time.

“One of the advantages of being disorganized is that one is always having surprising discoveries.”

A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

 I sometimes say this to my mom when she wants me to clean my room or when she gets really mad because my rooms an absolute pigsty I just kind of turn it into a philisoohical disscusion; Mommy my room reperesent life, no matter how extensively a person organizes and plans, nothing ever goes to plan and you have to roll with the punches.