Leaching

Sometimes we find ourselves a bit too dull, a little too irritated with little or no motivation to even begin the tasks that we may otherwise love. I speak for myself when I say, I most certainly do. After few such episodes in my life, I started to analyse the incidents that preceded each such episode of emotional breakdown. As expected, staring at my face were a few similarities between each. All the events contained an incident of "Leaching" — a term coined by me, particularly in this aspect.

'Leaching' is a scientific term for when incessant rainfall over a barren, yet fertile land, causes the dissolution of minerals and other chemical compounds which as a result is washed away along with the rainwater runoff. This might seem like a flex of my knowledge of standard 6 geography but wait till I explain the analogy I am trying to draw.

Similar to the process of erosion mentioned above, as humans we too are leached away of our motivation and positive outlook many a times. And when I inspected a few times I felt drained, I realised that it was because i felt leached of my positive emotions.

It could be a friend in dire of emotional support or on the other extreme, it could be an acquaintance with an absolutely silly problem. Knowing when to restrict yourself, emotionally, is key. If you disregard your own need for a mend, without giving yourself enough time to heal, to stabilise, you will eventually lose yourself to emotional chaos let alone the friend you were trying to help.

An empty vessel can't fill another. So here, I am essentially talking about self-care, placing yourself high up on your priority list — self love. I am talking about being a little selfish. A little. Just a little.

Picking someone up from a bad place requires tremendous effort. Its transfer of energy. You're trading your positive "vibes" for someone else's negative ones. Its bound to cause a dent in your emotional framework. Not everybody can do it. Not everybody cares enough to want to do it. Give yourself some credit for trying. Willingness in itself calls for appreciation.

We are quick to lend a shoulder for someone to cry on and in no way am I saying we shouldn't. Little do we think about ourselves. Before you rush to someone's aid and give your all, take a reality check as to how much can you afford to give? Will your giving cause a deficit in yourself? Are you in state of stability? Will you be able to stop yourself from snowballing into a big emotional wreck?

If the land is barren, devoid of vegetation, the rainfall cannot be blamed for washing away the minerals. If the land is filled with trees and other plants — if we are in a healthy emotional state — by all means, get drenched the rain. But if the land is indeed barren, do you want to be leached?