Reserve Empathy

Today I am grateful for my ability to feel empathy and express compassion.

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Yesterday, I was using my computer without a power cord attached, and eventually this message popped up:

WARNING: You are now running on reserve battery power. Please connect your computer to AC power. If you do not, your computer will go to sleep in a few minutes to preserve the contents of memory.

Though I have seen this message countless times in the years I've owned this computer, I've never really read that message before. Or, I've never *connected* with it before. Last night, something just clicked in me.

I've been doing this to myself...for years. Running on reserve battery power. *This* probably explains why my brain hasn't been working as well as I remember it used to, and why I haven't been able to remember stuff as clearly...etc, etc.

Moments after this epiphany, I was compelled to do an internet search of the computer warning message, and instantly came across this article. Not only was it strange that the article was from the Local Wheaton paper (a town I grew up 15 mins away from), it was also *exactly* what I needed to read at that moment. It confirmed some of the suspicions and conclusions I've been coming to about empathy and my own reactions over the years. I've been beating myself up (especially these last 10 or so years) for not "feeling more" in certain situations...turns out...this is an actual thing.

Admittedly, I haven't done any other research into this, other than this one article. I'm just going off of gut feelings and intuition here. But, I have a strong *feeling* this stuff is true. It certainly has been for me.