When Life Gets Away From You… Show Some Compassion

I’m stuck in that weird non-momentum phase where everything is still really busy but it feels like there’s no progress being made, especially on the things I really want to do.

Like blogging, and writing, and crafty things. I keep finding really awesome sewing patterns on Pinterest, too, but I haven’t touched my sewing machine in at least 6 months.

I ordered pizza tonight because there are so many dirty dishes littering up my counter I literally have nowhere to make food. Sometimes I hate not having a dishwasher, and then I remember that when we had one, I would still let the pots and pans get this way.

I feel like the last week or so have just been me setting myself up for failure in every little thing. I can get the (barest) necessities taken care of, but that’s about it. (Dishes don’t count, right? Right.)

And then… there have just been so many tragedies in the last few weeks. Tragedies that make people’s ugly sides come out, in unaccounted for ways.

And me, just sitting over here in my little INTJ corner, hurts for the people who have lost so much, but I have no idea how to express it because feelings are weird, y’all. I don’t feel right posting, hardly, because most of what I have in the works already feels… trivial, compared to the hardships so many people have been facing.

So I say a prayer, even though many tell me the prayer (or my compassion) is unwanted because I may disagree with some aspects of their lives. And I note that the world has forgotten what compassion actually is, while I also note that I don’t know how to show compassion to myself.

Life is out of our control. We all need compassion for each other and ourselves to survive each day, and it can’t come only from people we always like, or always agree with. If we smack those criteria on it, then… we only have ourselves.

And that makes life lonely, and impossible. I don’t know anyone who wants to live that way.

Recent Comments

  • helenrj
    June 17, 2016 - 4:36 am · Reply

    The world has forgotten what compassion is. Praying is the only thing we can do 100% of the time for we are not in control of this world. As far the pots and pans. Pick up one. Wash it, and soak the rest until tomorrow. Give them no thought. You actually had a major victory posting this. ‘Tis good.

  • heylookawriterfellow
    June 17, 2016 - 7:01 am · Reply

    Oh, I don’t believe prayers are unwanted by anyone.

    The beef many people have with “thoughts and prayers” is that cynical politicians so often trot out the phrase in times of crisis. These representatives use the words as an excuse to do nothing legislatively to help prevent future tragedies.

    • Rebekah Loper
      June 17, 2016 - 7:30 am · Reply

      Sadly, there are many people I have encountered this past week who have explicitly said that unless I am completely approving of every aspect of their (what should be) private lives, they don’t want my compassion or prayers for comfort.

      And I do understand the problem with just saying you’ll keep people in your thoughts and prayers. Compassion should always be backed up with actions.

  • Patricia Lynne (@plynne_writes)
    June 18, 2016 - 11:45 am · Reply

    The world has forgotten that you can still get along with people who have different ideas than you. If someone said they were praying for me, I would thank them even though I’m not very religious. I would appreciate the fact they were doing something they felt would send positivity to me.

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About Rebekah

Rebekah Loper writes character-driven epic fantasy featuring resilient women in trying and impossible circumstances who just want to save themselves but usually end up saving the world, often while falling in love.
She lives in Tulsa, OK with her husband, dog, two formerly feral cats, a small flock of feathered dragons (...chickens. They're chickens), and an extensive tea collection. When she's not writing, she battles the Oklahoma elements in an effort to create a productive, permaculture urban homestead.