Navigating the Weight of the World: Finding Peace Amidst Immense Sadness

How do we cope when the world is crumbling? When earthquakes shake the earth, when bombs fall from skies that should be peaceful, when plane crashes steal lives with brutal finality? When the unimaginable becomes tragically real, and we feel the cold, suffocating grip of sadness as it floods our hearts and minds? And perhaps even worse, how do we handle the quiet despair we feel when we learn that horrific abuse of children, unspeakable acts of violence, or the deepest forms of human suffering happen not just in faraway lands but right in our own neighborhoods?

Every time you look at the news, it’s another tragedy. Another heartbreak. Another helpless moment where all you can do is stare at the screen, your stomach twisted in knots, feeling small and insignificant in the face of such overwhelming pain.

It’s an impossible burden. And yet, for those of us who are alive in this moment, it’s one we can’t seem to shake.

But what if I told you that it's okay to feel the sadness? It's okay to acknowledge the darkness. In fact, it’s essential. What if, even in the midst of it, we could find a way to live, to laugh, to love—and to heal the wounds, not just in the world, but in ourselves?

The Dalai Lama once said, “Compassion is the radicalism of our time.” It’s a simple, yet powerful truth. We can feel, but at same time recognize that the suffering of the world doesn’t need us to mirror it, to be weighed down by it in such a way that we become paralyzed, because if we do, we’ll be of no use to anyone—least of all to ourselves. We have to remind ourselves that there’s a difference between feeling the sorrow of the world and letting it steal our own joy. If we allow ourselves to get lost in the sorrow, we become part of the sadness, and that doesn’t serve anyone—not the children suffering on the other side of the globe, not the families torn apart by war, not the people we love, and certainly not ourselves.

So how do we handle it? How do we continue to find joy in a world that often seems devoid of it?

First, we need to forgive ourselves for the guilt we feel when we dare to enjoy the small pleasures in life, when we take a moment to breathe or laugh or savor a cup of coffee. It’s easy to feel guilty, as though by feeling happiness, we are somehow ignoring the pain around us, or worse, being selfish. But it’s not selfish—it’s necessary. Every act of joy we experience is a victory, a light that pushes back against the darkness. To feel guilty about it is like giving in to despair when, in fact, the world needs more joy, more kindness, more of us being strong and full of love, even in the face of tragedy.

When I find myself overwhelmed by the endless barrage of bad news, I try to remind myself of the wisdom of Viktor Frankl, a man who survived the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp and wrote about finding meaning in suffering. He said, “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” And that’s where we have the power, isn’t it? We can’t change everything, but we can change the way we respond, the way we move through this world, the way we offer our hearts to it.

So, we choose to act—not out of guilt, but out of a place of compassion and empowerment. We donate, we speak up, we support those who are on the front lines of the world’s crises. We hold our loved ones close, treasure every laugh, and create space for joy to bloom—even if it feels like a rare flower in a field of rubble. In the small moments, the quiet acts of kindness, we fight back against the hopelessness. We refuse to be consumed by the heaviness of the world.

It’s important, too, to remember that we’re not meant to solve everything. As much as we may want to, we’re not superheroes. We are human. And being human means knowing our limitations, acknowledging that some things are beyond our control, and accepting that it’s okay to feel small sometimes. But even small acts of kindness can ripple out, creating waves of change.

One of my favorite pieces of wisdom comes from an unlikely source: a simple cup of tea. I once visited a woman in a refugee camp who had lost everything, and she made me a cup of tea, sitting with me on the dirt floor of her shelter. She had so little, but she shared it with me because, in her words, “Sharing what I have is the only way I can still be a person, not just a survivor.” That moment—small, humble, and quietly profound—taught me something that stays with me: sometimes, it’s the small things, the simple kindnesses, that keep us going, that make us human, even in a world that often feels too broken to fix.

So, what do we do in the face of overwhelming sadness and tragedy? We keep moving forward. We smile when we can, we love deeply, we find joy in the smallest of things, and we allow ourselves to feel the sorrow without letting it define us. We become vessels of compassion, even as we allow ourselves to laugh, to dance, and to love.

The world will always have its shadows, but it’s in the light we create that we find the strength to continue. And that’s enough.

Much love,
Hollie xo

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