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Empathy, resilience and the festive season

Posted on by Christian Hadorn | Article

Geopolitical, economic and societal challenges and disasters of all kinds once again punctuated 2024, transforming what should be a harmonious and happy life desired by and for most people into difficult, demanding and even terrible moments.

Certain despots and dictators have once again darkened the skies in many countries when their populations most certainly did not want them to. This lack of empathy on the part of some of the world’s top leaders, who are condemning the vast majority of the world’s people to survival or to wandering in nauseating and terrible unknowns, is not acceptable, even if we haven’t moved a single step forward when we said that, unfortunately…

The major aid bodies and organisations are being flouted, and the minimum of respect for others no longer seems to exist, as the life of a human being no longer seems to count for anything. Added to this are the natural disasters that are indicative of the climate disruption we have caused.

Is it still reasonable to hope for a little empathy and resilience, at least during the festive season? To give up these festive moments, which are certainly sometimes commercial, would be to capitulate to the barbarism of a minority of dangerous egomaniacs.

The world has always been cruelled to itself, but that’s no reason to lack empathy for others. If we can’t save the planet, we can at least show sympathy for those close to us who have suffered or are suffering at what should be a festive time.

Beyond what we see and hear, let’s try to be positive and find the right lines of thought to end this year 2024 in joy and plan great things for 2025, whether on a professional or personal level.

Unfortunately, 2025 will certainly not be the year of the ‘Care Bears’ and will resemble 2024… So, we’ll need to arm ourselves with empathy, resilience and a lot of strength to avoid sinking into the prevailing gloom. Focus on interesting projects, warm private moments, take time out to recharge your batteries in nature, etc. These are just some of the gift ideas for 2025.

Empathy and resilience often go hand in hand: in addition to other qualities, to be empathetic you need to be able to demonstrate a certain resilience in the face of life’s events and difficult moments. Once you’ve reached a certain point and accepted certain personal challenges, it’s often easier to understand others and provide them with the necessary empathy.

The pace of the world, its challenges and societal changes seem to have wiped out the ‘resilience skill’, particularly in younger people, and this can only worry us. Nevertheless, we can be optimistic for 2025, because these same young people often know how to show great solidarity and a sense of sharing that their elders have sometimes lost.

On the eve of the festive season, we’d like to thank you for regularly reading our posts and for your constructive comments.

Have a wonderful time, a wonderful holiday season and see you next year in great shape, full of empathy and resilience.

Happy reading and see you soon.

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