Dear Reader,
Today I have a bit more of a serious post, and one that is more of a question than an observation. What do you do when you are helpless?
I think there are different types of helplessness. There is the kind that you see in television shows where the main character is “helpless” until they discover some power inside them and overcome all obstacles. This type of helplessness happens sometimes in real life, but I think the reason that it makes such a good story is that it gives us hope. Just maybe next time we feel the world falling we can find some incredible power within that will allow us to save everything. Another kind of helplessness is the kind that does not exist. The kind that you trick yourself into and that could be fixed if only you could turn and see the solution that has been there the whole time. This kind is pretty common I think, and I find myself falling into this trap quite often. I’ll tell myself that I can not do something I need to because of some reason that does not quite make sense. “I can’t go get dinner because I need to take out the trash,” or “I can’t look for a job because I won’t get hired anyway.” But once we snap out of it we can usually solve the problem.
But what do we do about the real helplessness? The kind where you know something bad is happening but you can not do anything about it. A person you love is having a truly awful day, a family member is very sick, or thousands of people dying because of the actions of a corrupt government. This kind of helplessness comes in different levels, not being able to comfort your whining pet and not being able to heal someone suffering from a debilitating disease are slightly different. But they both make us feel helpless. How do you deal with that?
Personally, I have not found a way that works for me. Sometimes I work out, sometimes I have a few drinks, sometimes I binge on some show to distract myself. No specific plan helps every time and I wish I could find one that did.
Thanks,
N
Pen Pending 