What if Irony is Judging Others for Lacking Empathy?
What if
the fear we feel
at the end of a cliff
is less the fear of falling
and more
that we will choose
to jump?
That the fear
comes less from the actual danger
and more
from the lack of faith in ourselves
to make the right
decision?
That we’ll be left
with nobody to blame
but ourselves?
Recovery
is what fuels growth
not
hard work.
Hard work
is necessary
but insufficient.
While we may think
that we’re providing autonomy
for the employees’ benefit,
our employees
can actually feel
left alone
without support.
While we may think
that we’re expressing our concern
for the company’s benefit
our employers
can actually feel
uncared for
without support.
…
Support
is an event.
Just
as the confidence of an engineer
does not guarantee
whether the structure they built
is supportive,
our intention to support
does not guarantee
that support
happens.
What’s crushing
is less the hurdle
or challenge,
no matter how insurmountable
they may seem.
What’s crushing
is the feeling
that our actions
don’t matter,
that our efforts
don’t matter,
that we
don’t matter.
That we are helpless.
That it is hopeless.
May we ask
whether we desire
being
and creating with someone
or giving to
and receiving from them.
The more we want to give to,
or receive from someone,
the harder it can become
to be
or to create with them.
Being
or creating with someone
requires being present,
without expectation,
suspending our need
to fulfill a need,
and instead
letting emergence guide us
through uncertainty.
Sometimes
the challenge
is less believing in ourselves
and more believing in others
who believe in us.
Sometimes
our craving for validation
is not mere craving
for validation
but craving validation
from specific someone
or group of people
because we do not deem enough
the validations we’ve already
received.
Sometimes
what we crave
is not mere validation
but revenge
born out of the desire
to prove certain people
wrong.
Few people understand
the feeling of isolation
that comes
from being
wealthy.
Nor do they
want to.
Which makes this feeling
even more
isolating.
I
envision a world,
where each and every one of us,
from the moment we’re born
until the day we die
can feel certain
there’s at least one person
we can reach out to
at any given moment
who can and will support us
in a way
that actually makes us feel
supported.