As I reflect on the past 13 years I reflect on the stages of my own evolving consciousness that I have had to go through – sometimes once, sometimes over and over and some right now. I hope what I have learned may help you.
ACCEPTING APATHY
Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, and concern. Apathy is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, and/or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical, and/or physical life and the world. There are 2 main ways that Apathy can manifest itself, and that is either through a mental health condition, or a physical medical condition.
The way to treat apathy would be to treat the root cause because where the initial cause found may be substance abuse for example, the substance abuse can be attributed to a different cause (the root cause).
What makes the feeling of apathy unique is that it’s essentially the feeling of not feeling. And doubtless, it’s something that at some point in your existence you’ve encountered. We all have. For whenever you feel that something vital is missing from your life, yet lack the motivation or drive to pursue it, you’re afflicted with this curiously “emotionless” emotion.
You must experience feelings about something if you’re to take personally meaningful action on it. And without any compelling emotion to direct your behavior—and apathy literally means “without feeling”—you just aren’t sufficiently stimulated to do much of anything.
Apathy is a feeling—though, like going numb, it’s one so muted or held with such unrecognizable tension that you may not feel it at all. But it’s also an attitude. And sadly, that attitude is one of indifference . . . unconcern . . . unresponsiveness . . . detachment . . . and dispassion. Such an attitude saps you of so much energy that you feel lethargic, listless, and enervated—almost too “paralyzed” to act—and certainly without the will to do so. Which is why apathetic individuals are easily identified by their very passivity. De-motivated and lacking enthusiasm, their interest in confronting life’s challenges is seriously compromised. They just don’t care enough. And frankly, they don’t care that they don’t care.
Unquestionably, there are times that we’ve all hit the wall like this.
If there’s an overarching cause for apathy, it’s probably pessimism about your future. And that self-defeating attitude could derive either from early childhood programming, which led you to believe that no matter how conscientiously you applied yourself, you still couldn’t succeed—or, more commonly, a series of events in your present life that left you feeling you simply couldn’t win for losing.
So when you’ve sunk down into the deep pit of apathy, and climbing out seems far too arduous for the amount of energy at your disposal, what’s to be done?
Although there are many practical things you can do about your apathy, you won’t be able to do any of them unless you manage to change your mind-set. Regardless of what initially caused you to feel so unmotivated, it’s your present-day outlook on it that now keeps you stuck. Your immediate task, then, is to alter this outlook. In short, you’re much better off focusing on how to fix what’s inside your head than what lies outside it.
And no question but that you’ll need to force yourself—yes, force yourself!—to uproot what’s already taken residence deep inside you.
So ask yourself: “Am I willing to make a commitment to myself to give this apathy the fight of its life, even though doing so feels like it will take a lot more energy and effort than I’m now capable of?”
Kevin T. Cahill is an award winning sales professional and consultant specializing in the art of managing change and achieving great results. As the founder of The Change Revolution, this international best selling author and speaker inspires men and women alike. As someone who has mastered the art of resilience and hope, Kevin’s philosophy as a clarity builder is strategic and results driven. Kevin’s passion is to equip individuals and organizations with a renewed sense of clarity and excitement, knowing that positive change will bring about positive gains. His exciting creation The Change Revolution offers a winning blueprint for navigating through change and achieving success.
Speaking inquiries email bookings@kevintcahill.com or call 519-836-7989.
