Threats on the horizon

I was talking with a friend the other day who mentioned her deep concern about what the future looks like.

For whatever reason, humans are wired to pay extra attention when someone communicates worry. No doubt it’s similar to animals communicating danger to others in their group.

I was noticing the effect her concerns had on my own mental state. I empathized with her worries. I sympathized with the impact it was having on her. But then I internalized it and started being worried myself.

And you can see I’m continuing to reflect on that.

The truth is that we can always see danger. We’re finely tuned to do that. But I would hope that humans take the next step, to think about:

• Does this affect me too?
• What might be a better way to think through this?
• Is there anything I can do to improve the situation?

Empathy is good. But there’s a line with being dragged into a mental state which is not helpful, or even destructive.

So pause and reflect. What would be more helpful right now?