There are those who cruise through life and leave a trail of destruction and shattered lives in their wake. And then there are the incurables – perhaps like you and me who believe we have to fix the damage. In fact, we genuinely feel at fault for what happened and are convinced we have to fix it even if we had nothing to do with it.
What the heck is that?
We are the ones who need a team of psychologists – professionally paid “fixers” who are enlisted to fix the fixers. I, like my late mother, was born feeling guilty about anything and everything. She and I always believed we had to rescue everyone.
How do you fix terminally ill empaths?
Beats me, buddy…
My best friend, Karl, a Maryland native farm boy of German descent on the Eastern Shore defines this deeply engrained genetic trait that always leaves us in an emotional tailspin. He identifies himself as an “empath…” which was where I first learned this word, and so it goes. Karl has spent his lifetime serving others. That’s what he is and has always been. He is a professional farmer who has spent his life feeding others. He has worked in law enforcement serving and protecting others. If you’re in trouble and need rescuing, Karl will give you the shirt off of his back and the britches off his backside.
This is an element the man was born with.
Empathy is something we are either born with or haven’t a clue what it means. What happens to others always hurts worse than what happens to us. If we could transfer the pain others suffer to ourselves – we would. It is just too much to bear watching what happens to others.
I think the best place for an empath is volunteer work for those in need, which sports its own share of hazards because we’re always quick to rescue – oftentimes at our own expense. The good news is the gift of giving and doing for others. Makes you feel good deep inside.
Boomer Journey... 
Kindness as an act is it’s own, invisible reward. Whether accidental, opportunistic or altruistic. We have to remember we can’t save the world but we can, without thinking, grab the macaroni box for the woman in a wheelchair, offer basket to someone who can’t speak our language, keep jumper cables in the trunk and keep a kleenex, an arm, an ear available for other’s pain. We will never the wars being in other people’s lives, and the best fix is kindness. Because it’s invisible, yet tangible. Words and often offers of action will get in the way when listening will light the path.
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Jeezus…I’m going to stop commenting with an iDevice. If it can’t figure a word out it drops it🤣Half that comment was borderline blather.
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That’s right and it is so easy to be kind and thoughtful.
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