Most people have a unique gift of being able to feel if someone is emotionally unwell. Sometimes, we’ll have a conversation with a friend or colleague and something will seem off. We’ll ask if everything is okay, but even if they say that they’re fine, their non-verbal cues seem to say otherwise; maybe the very opposite of “fine.” The polite thing to do is respect their words and believe them, since there is not much we can do at this point. But perhaps they have a personal reason for doing this; maybe they’re just trying to hold it together and get through the day. Maybe unpacking emotional troubles would destabilize or paralyze their emotional state. In that moment, we can give them a gift that they can choose to accept — a gift that they can take home to help unpack the emotional luggage they’ve been carrying around for so long: the gift of kindness. I’ve learned that I cannot show someone how to fix their problems, but I can give them space and positivity — they themselves are the ones best equipped to handle their problems; all they need is a clear head, love and time to change the story they’ve been telling themselves.
Grief Awareness Day
Published by Jay-Ram
Hello. My name is Jay-Ram (Jay-ROM) and I'm a Indian-American former pharmaceutical chemist. Ever since I was a child, I've had a fascination with science, watching shows like "Bill-Nye The Science Guy" and "The Magic School Bus." I often had felt like the odd-kid-out because of the different way I would find solutions to problems (usually breaking conventional norms) and this made me stand out from my peers as the weird one. Now that I've worked in the industry for a while and realised my dream of working in a lab, I have come to understand that the spirit of science that drew me to it exists beyond the laboratory walls; it lead me to a way to connect people. So to explore that, I want to help people realize that they are not separate from the universe, but a part of it, itself. Paraphrasing the great Alan Watts, my goal with writing is the following: to help us realize that even though we feel as separate waves, we are still part of the entire cosmic ocean. View all posts by Jay-Ram