Empathetic vs. Apathetic
Finding the strength to care when you’re burnt out.
We’re living in a time where the universal feeling is exhaustion and apathy. Most people are experiencing burnout, and the tendency, desire, and temptation to check out is at an all-time high. Honestly, that’s understandable considering the amount of trauma we’ve gone through in less than three years.
Because we’re in a global community, we’ve taken on our pain and the pain of others, and I feel like our capacities have shrunk. So naturally, apathy has crept in. This is part of the grief and the trauma that we've been through. It's part of the healing, and it’ll take a lot of time to get to the other side.
How Do We Stay Tender When We're Fatigued, Hurt, and Broken?
In seasons like this, it’s much easier to just check out instead of continuing to care about people. At some point in this pandemic, I hit a point of exhaustion where I was not caring about anything or anyone, even God. It was genuinely scary to me because I'm a pretty compassionate, empathetic person. So, I took six weeks off of work and social media to heal.
We’re hearing the problems of the whole world at the same time, and no other generation has ever carried that.
We need some healing, and that healing will come in different ways for each of us. We were carrying wars, racial reconciliation, a global pandemic, and abortion of unborn children, amongst other huge burdens.
I’m blessed my job is flexible enough to allow for time off, but not everyone can take six weeks off to heal. So if that’s you, you could try these four tips instead:
1. LIMIT YOUR INPUTS
Read your news instead of watching it, and set limits on your socials. We can't carry the burdens of the whole world every minute of every day. There are times to educate yourself and help with a cause that you believe God's called you to help with. But we can't help with- or know about all of them.
Trying to carry the burdens of everyone around us is why there's a rise in anxiety and depression.
Scrolling through social media all day is not going to equal being a healthy human. The generation that dealt with the Spanish flu was probably less depressed than we are because they didn’t have 24 hours of cable news replaying their grief.
2. IDENTIFY CIRCLES OF REAL-LIFE PEOPLE YOU ARE TAKING CARE OF, AND WHO ARE HELPING YOU
Find people in your life whose burdens you can actually carry. Keep up with your circle of friends and family because those are your people, and you can find ways to support each other.
3. EDUCATE YOURSELF DEEPLY AND SPEAK UP ABOUT IMPORTANT ISSUES
Give to and serve one or two big issues in your day.
We each must take our place in the Kingdom of God. So, spare a few minutes a day to educate yourself on an important issue with which you’re not familiar, and be an advocate for a cause you believe in.
This will help you serve your community in more meaningful ways.
4. SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGE THOSE WHO ARE LEADING AND WORKING ON OTHER ISSUES WE’RE FACING
There are lots of issues in the world. One that I care about deeply is unborn children. It's not something I always speak about, but I do speak about it. Therefore, I cheer people on that speak about that as their main issue. I thank them privately, often publicly as well. Support those who are called to speak on issues you care about and help with those issues.
How Do You Decide What to Care About?
I start with the Lord. I ask God if a cause is something He wants me to care about. And lots of times scripture calls on us to care, but we can't tackle it all. We can't be educated on it all. So, you need to find things that stir your heart.
Lean into your passions and gifts to find the issue where you could help the most.
Explore and be around lots of different things. This way, you’ll know what you’re good at and you’ll find what excites you. If you’re not sure what to do, start volunteering, caring, and ministering alongside people in different situations. Eventually, you'll find the thing that moves your heart.
Remember to still prioritize your healing
As Christians, we’re called to love and care, but it’s important to remember that you can’t pour from an empty cup. So, try not to take on too many burdens of others because that could delay your own healing and cause even more burnout.
Trust the body of Christ. Christ is the head, and we play multiple roles to serve God. So, rest in that part of a people that love God and are being led by Christ in obedience and surrender. You don't need to fix it all; you only need to do your part and help others do the same.
Trust that God can mobilize a small army around you to meet the need so that you don't have to carry it alone.
Despite the current brokenness of the world, rest and do what God has called you to do, knowing that you have a limited capacity. Even Jesus had limited capacity, so we are learning from Him.
We learn to limit so we can recharge our souls.
Then, we get back our souls so we can care. The truth is, if we care about everything, we'll care about nothing in the end because we'll be too burnt out.
This is only a snippet from our ‘Made For This’ podcast, but you can listen to the full episode at the top of this page. We’re always trying to find creative ways to connect with you, so we've set up a text message system where we can chat. Text the word “podcast” to 214-225-6267 to connect.
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