They say don’t take work home with you.
Easier said than done.
Especially for those in a helping profession.
I’m sure you’ve worked hard to learn to separate your work life from your real life.
Yet, you still recognize that some people slip through the cracks.
You wonder if they are ok.
You wonder if you’ve done enough.
You’re invested because you care.
You’re human with a heart of compassion, that’s what got you to this field, after all.
Some of the people you work with stick in your mind a little longer than others.
It can make it hard to be present in your personal life when you have other people’s pain and suffering lingering in the back of your mind.
It’s like you know too much, sometimes.
You are too aware of the brokenness in the world.
It’s hard to shut off.
Sometimes having compassion and empathy for others actually makes this life, and your profession, harder.
It’s risky to allow yourself to feel empathy when the stuff you encounter is so, so heavy.
But... I hope you to know that you are doing God’s work.
You have been called to grieve with those who grieve. And as much as that can feel so overwhelming, it’s also a gift.
You show up, and you listen.
You might be the first person who has ever been consistent in someone’s life that way.
You can’t fix them, you can’t make them change or heal.
But you can keep being you to them.
Keep being a stable and loving presence in their life.
I know you don’t get told it enough, so I want to say it: thank you.
Thank you for sacrificing your comfort for others.
Thank you for caring about those who don’t always feel cared for.
Thank you for sitting in the heaviness most people would never choose to sit in with someone else.
Thanks for answering the call on your life.
God brought you here to be a vessel.
It’s heavy, but He will continue to put you right where He needs you.
Remember that you are never, ever in this alone in what you are doing.
~Kelli Bachara, The Unraveling Blog