When the World Feels Overwhelming, Remember Where Your Power Lives

We are living through an administration that is actively flooding our nervous systems with more information than we were ever designed to process. Everyday brings headlines reminding us that there are awful things happening in our country and the world that feel completely outside of our control.

And when we feel overwhelmed...

We shut down.

We scroll past the story.

We tell ourselves, This is too much. Why isn't anyone doing anything to stop this?

And then we move on because there's really nothing we feel like we can do.

And I understand that response.

When we repeatedly encounter things that feel too big to change, it makes sense that we would to move into helplessness. Honestly, it's evolutionary.

But there is something I want to gently remind you of:

You may not have control over everything happening in the world. But you still have power.

And even though the power looks small... it can still be so much more impactful than you realize.

This became personal for me last week.

Someone I love was separated from her husband.

She is a friend and former neighbor of mine. She was also my son's nanny for two years when he was a baby, so this isn't another headline to me. This is a woman and a family I know.

Her family immigrated to the country and sought asylum through legal channels. They had work permits.

And on a recent trip home, her husband was detained by ICE while traveling through Dallas. He had been cleared by TSA, but during his connecting flight, he was detained and separated from his wife.

She was sent home to care for their two children.

Their daughter is 10.

Their son is 8.

And suddenly, this mother found herself trying to explain to her children why their dad isn't coming home.

She is working part-time as an early childhood educator while trying to care for two children and navigate an immigration system that has left her family in an incredibly frightening and uncertain position.

She is working with an immigration attorney, who has filed for bond. They are now waiting for a judge to determine the amount.

That amount could be anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000.

In the meantime, she is trying to hold everything together.

She isn't sleeping.

She is scared.

She is exhausted.

And she is trying to be strong for her children while not knowing what the next day will bring.

I want to fix this for her. I want to give her the bond money and help bring her husband home.

But I can't.

Not many of us have $5000- $50,000 of spare cash lying around. And that's why my heart breaks for her. Because if it was my husband who was ripped away from my family.... I would do whatever I could to find the money to get him home.

So what do we do when we can't fix it?

This is where I think we need to be very intentional about protecting ourselves from helplessness.

When you're feeling helpless, you may think

There is nothing I can do.

But when we tap into the truth:

I can't fix everything... but I can do something.

I can't change immigration policy right now.

I can't stop ICE raids from happening.

I can't protect every family experiencing this right now.

But I can decide what kind of neighbor I want to be.

So if my power is found in a blog post, or my social media, and creating a fundraiser to support- I'm doing it.

What about your power? What are some things you can do when you feel like the world is falling apart around you?

Maybe you can check on someone.

Maybe you can offer childcare.

Maybe you can bring someone a meal.

Maybe you can donate $5.

Maybe you can share a fundraiser.

Maybe you can volunteer.

You can use your voice.

You can listen.

You can refuse to become numb to someone else's suffering.

And these are the small things that help us reclaim a sense of autonomy when the world feels completely out of our hands.

This is one small thing you can do today.

I created a GoFundMe to help my friend raise money for her husband's immigration bond.

I am asking, if you are able, to consider donating.

It doesn't have to be a large donation.

$5 matters. $10 matters. $20 matters.

When enough people decide that a small action is worth taking, those small actions can become something much bigger.

If donating isn't possible for you right now, that's okay.

Sharing this post is also an action.

You may know someone who can help.

You may know someone who knows someone.

You may simply be the person who helps this story reach the next person.

That matters too.

We cannot carry the weight of the

entire world.

If you are exhausted by the news, take a break.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, give yourself space.

Compassion does not require us to consume suffering 24 hours a day.

But I also don't want us to confuse numbness with peace or helplessness with acceptance.

There is a difference between protecting your nervous system and becoming disconnected from the people around you.

We can do both.

We can take care of ourselves and care about what is happening to other people.

We can acknowledge that something is bigger than us and still find the small piece that belongs to us.

We can say:

I can't fix all of this.

And then ask:

What can I do?

Because maybe your action today is donating to this family.

Maybe tomorrow it's helping someone in your community.

Maybe next week it's volunteering.

Maybe it's calling a friend who is struggling.

Maybe it's simply refusing to let the constant stream of heartbreaking news convince you that your choices don't matter.

We don't get to control everything that happens around us.

But we do get to decide how we respond.

And sometimes, finding that little piece of agency is enough to remind us:

We are not powerless.