When things become monotonous, you feel indifferent, distracted and your creativity screeches to a halt, these are signs that apathy has kicked in and you are repressing the emotion of anger or sadness. Repressing any emotion can cause trouble to your psyche. Anger and sadness are vital to your health and repressing it brings up a response. You will either spin out of control into rage or become apathetic when anger is repressed. You will either be taken out of commission with depression or become apathetic when sadness is repressed.
Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest or concern. It’s a state of indifference, may lack a sense of purpose, worth or meaning in life. Apathy becomes a mask and is a coping mechanism to the repressed anger or sadness. This is a mask that covers up inner truths with a protective attitude distancing you from uncomfortable situations…situations that you probably would rather not confront or deal with. The mask of apathy comes off as I don’t care, I can’t be bothered or whatever attitude. If you feel incapable of affecting your surroundings or speaking out against injustices, you’ll often fall into the mask of apathy. You will seek distractions such as TV, comfort food, shopping…a quick and easy way out.
When you allow apathy to flow freely, you’ll let yourself take small vacations…you will be able to daydream, detach yourself from situations with diversions because sometimes you do need a break or a time out especially when you are feeling challenged by situations. Throwing yourself into overwork or hypervigilance or pretending to be anything but apathetic will not take you out of it. If you welcome your apathy, it will move quickly. If you inhibit or wallow in it, you will plummet into imbalance and out of alignment with yourself.
Apathy is showing you a loss of boundaries and the part of you that is crying out for a change. However, apathy chatters and gripes all day and doesn’t accomplish anything. In order for you to become active again, you must give yourself permission to feel and release your feeling of apathy and even the anger and/or sadness that is buried underneath it. Your apathy is shielding you from deeper issues and until you can face them, you will continue to disassociate from the world and your life.
To get you back into the game of life you must be willing to feel and release your repressed feelings, set boundaries for yourself and change your situation. For example, if your apathy wants a:
- Perfect lover – work on loving your whole self instead of waiting for some superhero to appear and save you.
- Better job – focus on what you enjoy about your current job and do more of that until you apply, interview and are hired to do another job
- Better anything…focus on what you have, give gratitude for it and then make a list of the things you want and go for it…
If your apathy is a mask for anger, then setting boundaries with the person who is violating them is critical. It’s time to protect yourself. The person or situation won’t go away until you set a healthy limit. If your apathy is a mask for sadness, then allow yourself to honor your feeling and the ending of what you are sad about without resisting it. You can also ask and journal about the following:
- What am I avoiding?
- What thoughts or beliefs do I need to be aware of that are limiting me from living the life I want to live?
- What behaviors are keeping me stuck or stagnant?
- What am I afraid to change?
It is extremely important to listen to your apathy but not follow its demands mindlessly into the abyss of nothingness, imbalance and misalignment. Sometimes you need a break but completely checking out of life puts you out of control and out of your power. Change is a constant in everyone’s lives. The more you embrace and effect change, the more empowered you will feel and aligned you will be with your soul and life.
Would you like to guidance on how to change your life and feel more alive again?
