It is such a senseless killing: at least 58 people dead and hundreds more injured.
I understand how this mass shooting in Vegas deeply affects our psyche for I feel it, too.
Without even looking at the images, just the words that describe the deadliest shooting in modern US history, is enough to create anxiety, fear, confusion, uncertainty, and hopelessness.
And yes we all feel sad, deeply sad, and in pain for the extraordinary loss of so many innocent lives. We all feel the pain as we imagine what ravaging fear and horror the people who were there in Vegas must have experienced.
I think of and am inspired by the people who were real heroes such as Sonny Melton who died while trying to save his wife Heather; he was shielding her from gunfire when he was fatally shot.
And yet, there is nothing we can do to change what has happened.
Don’t let that thought make you feel helpless, for you are not.
You can do things to soothe the fear and anxiety, which is caused by the belief that the world is out of control. It definitely seems that way and yet that is not the truth.
We are all being challenged right now with so many recent disasters – hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes and threats of war with North Korea. It is okay to feel the fear and uncertainty. It is okay to feel other people’s pain – this is empathy and this is what makes us human and connected.
You cannot allow the fear to control you; you cannot lose hope and you cannot allow yourself to shrink. What we can all do now is to move from empathy to compassion – to feel other people’s pain and make an effort to ease that pain.
How can you soothe and comfort the people around you?
Reach out to the people that you love and reaffirm your love for them. Recognize and acknowledge just how precious and extremely fragile life is.
Call your loved ones now. Express your love for them now. Don’t hold back.
We are all in this together, and the closer we stay together and the more love, empathy and compassion that we choose to show each other, the more comforted, secure and united we will feel and be as we move through this together!
Anointed “The Woman Expert” by WGN Chicago, Patrick Wanis PhD is a renowned Celebrity Life Coach, Human Behavior & Relationship Expert who developed SRTT therapy (Subconscious Rapid Transformation Technique) and is teaching it to other practitioners. Wanis’ clientele ranges from celebrities and CEOs to housewives and teenagers. CNN, BBC, FOX News, MSNBC & major news outlets worldwide consult Wanis for his expert insights and analysis on sexuality, human behavior and women’s issues. Wanis is the first person ever to do hypnotherapy on national TV – on the Montel Williams show.