Your Empathy Is Not Finite

Your empathy is not finite.

It is not something that you can pick off a shelf. It is not something that you have to divvy up and give out sparingly. It is not a pie. There isn’t a test that you can take that determines how much empathy you have or how much you are capable of giving.

It doesn’t work like that.

It’s not supposed to work like that.

Empathy is a muscle. It’s a habit, a practice. It’s something that takes cultivation and dedication. It’s finding your way through the shades of gray. It’s sticking around and showing up and doing the work.

Your empathy is a gut check. It’s self-reflection—it’s seeing people, it’s stopping long enough for their stories to come into focus. It’s recognizing your own preconceived notions and digging deeper. It’s about waiting until people tell you who they are, not preemptively deciding on your own.

Your empathy has no rule book. It’s about feeling. It’s about listening. It’s about engaging with what’s happening in front of you. It’s about seeing another human being and not turning your eyes or your heart away from their hurt, their struggle, their pain, their joys, their fears. Your empathy asks you to stand in the space of their discomfort. Your empathy tells another person, “You are not alone.”

Your empathy is not finite. 

There is not a limit to the amount of love that you have to give, or the support you can show, or the space you can create that will nourish the seeds of compassion and hope. There is not a limit on the amount of kindness that one can bestow.

There is not a maximum on the love you’re able to give.

Your empathy is not finite—it is infinite, it is limitless, it is there for the cultivating.