The Angels That Live Among Us [Entry for writing contest by @averageoutsider]
Usually when we hear the word 'angel', we instantly start imagining a heavenly young female creature with wings, flying out from a sky full of clouds with a strong ray of sunlight behind, for the purpose of healing and bringing blessings and wisdom in our lives. We see the same interpretation in books, paintings, movies, performances and pretty much any source of art.
But I think what we need right now, to understand this concept, is a different and possibly better perspective. I understand the fact that the traditional definition of an angel comes from a religious background, but what if somehow we were able to change the very interpretation of this word without changing the actual value it holds for us?
Crazy idea, I know, but the question remains, can we in fact make it happen? Now just fyi, I'm not really someone who believes in mythical creatures, but the way I see it, angels exist not just in books, but in people. I know that for some of you, angels might be too strong of a word, so let's use 'empaths' for simplicity. If you look up the Google definition of an empath, it says:
A person with the paranormal ability to perceive the mental or emotional state of another individual.
In simple words, an empath is a person who holds the enhanced ability to feel what other people are feeling, and perceive things from their point of view by putting themself in others' shoes. Now for the sake of this article, we're going to skip all the hypercritical and controversial crap and get straight to the point, because there's already been a lot of misunderstandings between the two terminologies, HSPs (highly sensitive person) and empaths.
At first, you might not see a clear correlation between angels and empaths. But as I said, all we need is a different perspective. If you have read some of my previous articles, you know that empathy is not a word I take lightly. To me, it's almost a superpower. A superpower that probably all of us have but sadly only few of us actually use.
In religious texts, it's often portrayed that angels are the natural healers sent from heaven and that they make appearances in our human world and grant us the favor of feelings of overwhelming joy and bliss. Now keeping that in mind, try to compare it with the experiences in your life that you shared with someone who understood you to the level no one else ever did, and you'll instantly start to see a clear picture.
If you were able to recall that someone, you will start to notice how profoundly one resembles the other. The people that you are close to, ones who genuinely care about you and are worried about your well-being, and choose to delay their work just so they can spend their time with you, are the people who in my honest opinion, are truly worthy of being called angels.
People who just want to see other people happy and don't care about their own happiness, though being incredibly vulnerable, are the most valuable gifts of our world. The sad part is, their innocence becomes their own doom. I'm sure you guys have noticed this too at some point in your life that (generally) people who care more, lose more.
But that's just half the truth. People like these sure have more to lose, but they also have more to live for. They feel greater levels of compassion, intimacy, sense of purpose, attraction, fulfillment and pretty much every other thing that makes for a meaningful life. If an empath learns when to and when not to serve other people, it becomes almost impossible to manipulate them.
Have you ever confessed something to someone even if you were clearly not expecting any kind of reassurance from them and to your surprise, found them to be exactly like you and how they too have been through everything you have? If you haven't, let me tell you, that feeling is beyond remarkable. It simply can't be put into words.
Just the mere fact that someone has seen, heard, felt and suffered the same things that you have is enough to make a strong unspoken bond between the two of you. But that bond can't be made unless both of you are empathetic. This is the reason why narcissists are never able to make deep and fulfilling connections with anyone; they are limited to their own pride.
The truth is, we need these 'angels' as much as they need us. They want to help, and we need help; we all need someone in our lives who would give us hope when everything around us is falling apart. We might never become like them, but we can try; we might never be able to appreciate them as much as they deserve, but sometimes all that we need, is a different perspective.
I love your look on this. It has true value. Life is not cookie cutter, just because people envision something one way doesn't mean it's correct.
Your view is genuine. I can tell you from personal experience it can be hard sometimes to be empathic. Some people are just so overwhelming with what they are feeling, that you can't block or shield from them. Others just feel safe talking to you, like it's not issue. My husband thinks it's weird that strangers come up and talk to me and want to touch. It just makes me want to stay home.
Depending on what's going on sometimes it's hard to know if your own feelings or you have taken on someone else's. You're right about the feelings everything is more intense. Passion for me is probably the hardest. I don't mean like intimacy. I mean being the best me I can be. To be the best at what I do. To believe in something so strongly that you become emotional on so many different levels. With that unfortunately comes anger. Since people don't understand you or where you're coming from they then put down that which is different rather than listen.
The sad part is a lot of people don't realize they are empathic, they think there is something wrong with them, they don't understand why their feelings are so intense. Just like on there are so many that don't believe there is such a thing. That's ok, you don't have to. As you have mentioned when you meet one and you can feel that connection, most of the time you know things are going to be ok.
I guess this is harder to explain than I thought it would be. I know several empaths, of all levels. Some have studied, some haven't.
Like one of the popular quotes, 'Always be kind to others, since you don't have any idea what they are going through. ' This is one of those cases.
I feel you. It's sad that those rare people who are potentially the only 'healers' left in the world, are clouded by self-doubt and anxiety and they think something is wrong with them when in reality that something is actually a skill; one which very few people posses.
Even though I haven't really met a lot of empaths in my life, I know for a fact that they do exist. Sadly, most are usually in this miserable condition of overwhelming depression and mental illness. It genuinely hurts me to know that someone who just wants to help and love and spread happiness in the word, is left unloved, unappreciated and taken for granted.
That's the reason why I always try to give reassurance to these people and try to teach them when to serve and when to go bold. It doesn't matter how big your heart is if you can't protect it. You can't help others if you can't even help yourself. I learned this when I stopped standing up for other people's shit when I finally realized that some people just don't wanna change. They don't want to serve, but only to be served.
But I think as long as we keep reminding ourselves that there are indeed people in this world who care, people who actually give a shit and are not borderline narcissist, we can still have hope.
P.S. Thank you so so much leaving such an honest and empathetic comment. Readers like you are the reason I feel safe when sharing my personal views. Really grateful!
There are people that care. I know I am one. You're very welcome @ayushjalan. Glad you feel safe to share. It's kind of odd. I do too. I have only had 1 person retort with something negative and I told him to hop in his boat and sail on LOL. I have met the most amazing people here. It's great to be accepted for being yourself.
It is. It's even greater when you can make it a potential career. Imagine being paid for always speaking your mind and sharing your honest opinion. That's the dream.
A very interesting perspective @ayushjalan . Thank you for sharing your thoughts, by entering this piece in our writing contest.
Thanks to you too for organizing these contests @averageoutsider! :)
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Congratulations @ayushjalan, your post has been selected by the @asapers for a resteem and a feature in our brand new curation post. Issue 79
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I'm so glad to be featured in the new issue. And yeah, an upvote is always appreciated haha
Thanks for the compliments and I'm grateful that you liked my work :)
this is call super natural power..
in other word's also can call god's power..
Haha yeah
Hahaha
Hello @ayushjalan, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!
Thanks for the kind words and also the upvote! Much appreciated :)
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.
Thanks for the upvote and resteem! I'll make sure to check out the discord community :D
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Nice write up- I am going to follow your work
Thanks a lot! :)