M.J. Blehart's Blog, page 9

Not Caring What Others Think Is Hard

It’s especially hard when you wish they saw what you are seeing.Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Reading the news, even from a level of learning the basics to simply stay informed, is increasingly infuriating. I cannot understand how, in less than a decade, the United States went from progressive, having twice elected the first-ever black president, to this reactionary fascist-inspired nightmare.

It seemed like we were entering a golden age of reason, of progress, of a world where greater fairness and equality were both accepted and desired. How in the fuck has all that gone out the window?

The truth is that it hasn’t. The narrative, however, is being controlled by the terrifying and, frankly, terrified), fascist-inspired minority and fueled by news outlets more interested in profit for their corporate overlords than informing the people. They’re not the majority but the majority doesn’t know how to resist.

What do others think of all of this? I don’t know. And I can’t know, because I am only in my own head, heart, and soul. Ergo, I can’t think, feel, intend, or act for anyone other than myself.

Additionally, I can’t make anyone care, give two shits, or otherwise see this how I see it. This is difficult to compute, hard to accept, and equally if not more frustrating as not caring what others think about me.

Hence my conclusion that not caring what others think is hard.

So, what can you do?

Be true to yourself

If, like me, you see all this fucked-up stuff going down and you want to do something about it, you probably get this.

How come they can’t see that Black Lives Matter addresses old, ugly systemic abuses, that DEI is the reality of the world and not taking jobs from deserving white people, that LGBTQA+ people only want to live their lives like everyone else, that the opposite of “woke” is awful, that women are worthy and deserving of equality to men, and the like? What convinces them that everything is lacking, scarce, or limited, and the only way to get what they deserve is to keep others away from it?

I don’t know. And I can’t know because I’m not them. However, neither are they, me. Thus, while I can’t do anything about or for them, what I can do is be true to myself.

That means I share these ideas with the world, vote in elections, attend protests that speak to me, and seek any avenues I can to be of service where I can.

Likewise, I pick my battles. Hence, I avoid supporting businesses doing harm as best that I can (and the reality here is that you REALLY have to pick and choose your battles. Avoiding them all is so limiting that the only way to do it requires getting off the grid and becoming a total hermit). When I can boycott and not spend my money in such places, I will and do.

Also, I won’t shut up. This is still a free country, and the First Amendment says I can keep sharing these ideas, so I will. If this makes even one person feel less alone or opens one person’s eyes to more than they took in before, it’s utterly worth it.

Photo by Big Dodzy on UnsplashNot caring what others think is hard

Even if that doesn’t happen, and I’m impacting nobody in any way, being true to myself keeps me balanced, awake, and aware. That’s not selfish, it’s part of what makes me who, what, and why I am.

Still, it’s really hard to not care what others think, both in general and about me.

Here’s the thing. Not caring what others think isn’t not caring. No, it’s a matter of recognizing you have no power over others, that you can’t do, be, or have anything else for them, and that you can be kind, compassionate, and empathetic without driving yourself mad trying to get into the psyche of another.

If and when you care like I care about other people, this is hard because it feels like you should be able to do more. But not caring what others think means you still care – but you also recognize that you have these limitations, and they are unique limitations you can’t overcome. Why? Because you can only be you. You can only think, feel, intend, and act for you and nobody else. From there, you can focus more on being true to yourself and with that act in ways to put that caring energy into the world at large.

This isn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination. It’s especially hard when you wish others saw what you see. Know that the necessary detachment doesn’t release kindness, compassion, or empathy from your being.

Not caring doesn’t mean not caring

You are on this Earth, in that body, for a finite amount of time. If you spend all of your time in worry, focused on things you have ZERO control over, and always what-iffing this, that, or the other thing, you needlessly suffer.

Not caring isn’t about not actually caring. What it IS about is doing and giving your best to yourself, your time, your friends, your family, and your life. It’s about reducing your stress and leaving yourself with enough spoons to live your life on your terms.

However, nobody lives in a vacuum. We all interact with others. Caring about them and their wellbeing is not the same as caring to the degree of being constantly on guard, worried, fearful, angry, and so on. Not caring means a shift in focus away from that which you can’t and don’t control to what you can and do control.

It is in no way, shape, or form, selfish to do this. Truth be told, it’s a matter of self-care, self-preservation, and retaining enough energy to care about the welfare and wellbeing of others without allowing that to negatively impact your life.

When you detach yourself from what you can’t and don’t control, you still care, but without driving yourself mad focused on things you can do little to nothing about. In the end, that’s how you retain your power and remain empowered to act when opportunities present themselves.

It’s not easy, but I believe it’s utterly worthwhile. And so are you and your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health.

Can you see how not caring doesn’t mean not caring?

This is the six-hundred-eighty-seventh (687) exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are my ideas for – and experiences with – applying mindfulness and positivity to walk along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.

I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world and empower as many people as I can with conscious reality creation.

Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-post and share this.

The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. Check out my author website for the rest of my published fiction and nonfiction works.

The post Not Caring What Others Think Is Hard appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

Your Choices and Decisions Are Everything

Your life is made up of the choices and decisions you do and don’t make.Photo by Jack Swords on Unsplash

No matter what anyone else tells you, you have the ultimate decision-making power for your life. Nobody else can make you be anyone you don’t desire to be.

However, there are circumstances that will interfere. All of them are outside of you. For example, given the current political climate in the USA, you might be enby and unable to be your true self at work. You might be trans and find yourself constantly on guard for the misinformed and worried about people questioning your bathroom use choices. Like me, you might recognize that being “woke” is a hell of a lot better than being asleep and unaware, even when it’s mistakenly treated like something bad.

However, in your head, heart, and soul, you are the one who chooses and decides who, what, where, how, and why you are. While that might currently come with unwanted limitations, ultimately, you choose and decide for yourself and your life.

When all is said and done, your choices and decisions are everything.

“They” have only as much control as you give them

Right now, a loud, well-funded minority is doing their damnedest to tear society apart. They have a vision of a ridiculous world that is oppressive, controlled by a very select few, and where the masses do what “they” want. On even a slightly magnified examination, you can see that most of their support is either bought and paid for or via super-fine, truly ugly corruption and lies.

The news media is loving this. They have more eyes scanning their stories, watching for the next horrific and senseless Executive Order, while blatantly illegal actions will go unremarked and unpunished. It’s making them a shit-ton of money. But the real problem is how it’s causing us to be constantly on guard and living in fear.

That’s the point of it. Fear. They want us scared. These so-called leaders know that “fear is the mind-killer”, and so long as they use it like a weapon they can control people. So, they threaten groups that are defiant of their supposed power in both subtle and blatant ways, mostly via fear.

No, I am not denying that there is no danger. It’s very real, and what might come next is truly terrifying. However, if more people become aware that they have more power than they presently believe, they can take it and change the narrative.

How? By actively and consciously making choices and decisions. By seeking to be “for” rather than “against” things and people. And by standing up and declaring “Not today, Satan” and attending the protest, voting, and contacting congresspeople to remind them to do their fucking jobs.

More than that, however, active conscious awareness is mindfulness, and mindfulness puts you in control of your life experience.

Choices and decisions are imperfect but are yours to make

Look, you’re going to get it wrong. You will fuck up, make mistakes, unintentionally cause someone else to feel hurt, and so on. Congratulations, you’re a human being.

Too many things in the world today focus on removing pain, discomfort, and feelings of insecurity. Too many “triggers” are avoided rather than faced down, comfort zones held up as okay even when they make you miserable, and actively seeking awareness of the world both within and without you called out as undesirable. There are many things in the world seeking to keep people small, disempowered, and wanting.

Guess what? You, and I mean you, dear reader, are worthwhile. I think you should know that you deserve to be who, what, where, how, and why you desire to be. You and all your perfect imperfections are worthy and deserving of having good things in your life.

The trouble comes from mostly false notions of lack, scarcity, and insufficiency. Those in “power” get a ton of their support by convincing people they control the supply of both the tangibles and intangibles, and that the “other” will take what’s yours unless you let “them” protect you.

What a crock of shit. The world is not so lacking, scarce, or limited as they want us to believe. It’s way more abundant.

How do I know? Because of these truths.

Photo by Joshua Sukoff on UnsplashTruths I know

If you can legit refute any of these (as in providing vetted, reasoned proof), please do. Message me with your evidence and I will evaluate my beliefs. If you’re right, I’ll share where I am mistaken.

However, that said, here are the truths I know currently without a shred of doubt:

There are 8 billion people in the world. All 8,000,000,000 people have their own desires, want different tangible and intangible things, and are all equally worthy of their dreams.The tangible, material things are not what anyone truly desires. The feelings they create, the sensations they give you might be, but they themselves are not what you desire.There are no limits to any thoughts, feelings, emotions, intentions, or approaches to life. The world will never run out of kindness, compassion, empathy, love, or the like.Nobody can make you do or be anything other than you desire to be/do/have unless you cede your power and let them.Nobody but you can make choices and decisions for you.

Yes, there might be limitations. I know that if you are not a cis-gendered, white, heterosexual male you have additional challenges and struggles to overcome. Yet that doesn’t change any of the above truths, nor your power to make choices and decisions for yourself.

Making choices and decisions will sometimes be between bad and worse. However, so long as you make choices or decisions via active, conscious awareness – mindfulness – you strengthen your empowerment muscle. Like any other muscle, the more you work it the stronger it gets. The stronger it gets, the easier to use it becomes. Finally, the more you show and act on your self-empowerment, the more you can be a beacon of light for others in this fucked-up darkness.

Choices and decisions made empower you for the better.

Understanding that your choices and decisions are everything isn’t hard

It’s all about practicing mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, intentions, and approach to direct your actions.

When you recognize and acknowledge that you’re the only one in your head, heart, and soul, you can see how making active, consciously aware choices and decisions puts you in the driver’s seat and gives you what control you can take over your life. Knowing that not making choices and decisions is the equivalent of ceding your power to people who care only about themselves, you can make more choices and decisions to do what you can to be in charge of your life experience and live your life how you desire to.

This empowers you, and your empowerment can empower others around you.

Consciously choosing your approach to life towards positivity or negativity – from the vast cylinder that exists between them – shifts life in a way that opens greater dialogue. From that broader dialogue, you can recognize, explore, and share where you are between the extremes and how that impacts you here and now.

Choosing thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions for yourself employs an approach and attitude of positivity for realizing amazing potential and possibilities for your life.

The better aware you are of yourself here and now, the better you can choose and decide what, how, and why your life experiences will be. When you empower yourself, that can spread to those around you for their empowerment.

Thank you for coming along on this journey.

This is the five-hundred-and-seventy-fifth (575) entry of my Positivity series. I hope that these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog, and spread the positivity.

Please visit here to explore all my published fiction and non-fiction.

The post Your Choices and Decisions Are Everything appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

If You Give Up or Give In, They Win

Do what you can to stay strong.Photo by Julian Santa Ana on Unsplash

I have massively reduced my time on social media. This is to avoid doomscrolling and doing harm to my mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

It’s not that I don’t desire to know what my friends and loved ones are doing. It’s that all the bad news, awful happenings, and ongoing ugliness is disheartening, upsetting, and can move all the way over to terrifying.

How in the hell did we get here? After decades of progress, how did society take such a willful, ugly, unhinged step backward? I could analyze this ad nauseam, look it over from every possible angle, and the conclusion won’t change: What I can do outside of me and my life is massively limited.

Capitulating to this insanity has become the norm on the part of media agencies, workplaces, and other institutions. Not a lot we can do, save choose where we shop with that in mind, protest and boycott as necessary, and so on.

What you can do is choose to keep fighting, keep taking stands, keep being you. Because if you give up or give in, they win.

There is, however, an important truth about winning and losing in these circumstances to consider.

It is not about winning and losing

The truth is that we are not in competition. I repeat, for those in the back, WE ARE NOT IN COMPETITION. Yet much of the narrative being presently framed in the world is that there’s not enough of “X”, we have a lack of “Y”, and “Z” is insufficient to sustain you. Oh, and “they” are the problem (as opposed to those pointing to “they” while raking in money and faux power for themselves).

The truth is that unless you’re playing a team sport like baseball or hockey, an individual sport like fencing or archery, or participating in a cooking competition or spelling bee, you’re not in competition. With anyone for anything.

What’s more, “they” aren’t taking anything away from you or using up all of any given resource. All of that is a false narrative intended to make you angry and disempowered.

The reality is that they want you hopeless, afraid, uncertain, and lost. That way, they can offer their bullshit form of guidance to a place they claim is better. Yet, looking at the reality, all they do is dismantle and destroy – what better is being built? Can you show me? I’ll wait.

While we’re not in competition, we are being set up to lose. Lose what? Sovereignty. Willpower. Freedom to be. If you give up or give in, they win because you stopped resisting them. But more than that, they win because you stop being true to you.

Photo by Alexander Grey on UnsplashIf you give up or give in, they win

As soon as you throw up your hands and cry, “I quit!” They win. If you stop being who you desire to be and allow them to take away your willpower, they win. When you remain silent as they take away rights, end freedoms, and destroy institutions in the name of “God”, “Trump”, “Musk”, or the like – they win.

When you stop being true to yourself, they win. But that’s not even the worst of it. No, worst of all you lose yourself, your will, your edge, and all that makes you the wonderful person that you are.

Here’s what I know for certain: You’re here. Right now. Today. As you read these words you’re living, breathing, existing.

The rest of your circumstances are not something I know. Likewise, you don’t know mine. Still, you can be your truest, most authentic self and do what you can to live the fullest, best life possible.

When you do this, when are choosing and deciding who, what, where, how, and why you are – you win.

Do what you can to stay strong

I write and share these blogs. Beyond this, I’m working on building my writing career with my fiction. Past that, I’ll attend protests for things I believe in and I will keep offering support to those who are being most oppressed and harmed.

I’ll do what I can to stay strong. That means, for me, less time on social media and the doom and gloom there, not diving too deeply into the news, and making active, consciously aware choices and decisions for living my life. Yes, that means practicing mindfulness.

We have more power than we allow ourselves to believe. Also, we have more power than our so-called leaders and their associates want us to believe. But the truth is that nobody but you can live for you. That means you keep going, one day at a time, and fight the good fight. Stay strong. Be yourself.

Easy? Nope. Worthwhile? Hell yes. But if you give up or give in, they win. That’s not something I care to see happen, how about you?

Are you in it to win it and live life on your best, most desired terms?

This is the six-hundred-eighty-sixth (686) exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are my ideas for – and experiences with – applying mindfulness and positivity to walk along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.

I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world and empower as many people as I can with conscious reality creation.

Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-post and share this.

The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. Check out my author website for the rest of my published fiction and nonfiction works.

The post If You Give Up or Give In, They Win appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

Can You Choose to Shift Your Perspective?

Yes, because your perspective is yours to control.Photo by Nadine E on Unsplash

Have you ever watched a movie or TV show and wondered why they chose to shoot the scene at the angle they did? Did you experience an overwhelming desire for them to tilt the angle of the shot in one direction or another, zoom in or out, and otherwise change the perspective?

The problem with this is that you can’t change the perspective that was chosen unless you tilt your head a certain way. Even then, it’s not truly changed (and still showing you what the director of the program/film wants you to see). The film or TV show in question is the presentation of someone else’s vision and perspective therein.

Likewise, this applies to all images. Camera angles chosen or the design of graphics are also presented with a specific perspective the creator of them chose. So, every billboard on the highway, image on social media, and photograph presents a perspective someone wants you to see in a specific way.

Constant exposure to this can have an unexpected and unfortunate effect. Subconsciously, you begin to see perspective as something presented by another as the norm. You start to believe, because your subconscious believes, that how the world is presented to you – via imagery and the like – is how the world is. When that’s what you’re presented with, and your brain absorbs without analysis, it sinks in and becomes a belief.

This is not the truth, however.

Your mileage may vary

You are one of 8 billion people on the planet. Every single person on Planet Earth perceives the world in their own, unique way. This is influenced by external matters like the nation they live in, their environment, the people in their lives, and on and on. It’s also influenced by internal matters, including beliefs, values, habits, and such.

Hence, everyone takes in the perspectives shared by others and subconsciously absorbs them. Then, from there, based on their existing biases, prejudices, beliefs, values, and the like, their subconscious mind applies it and adds or rejects it.

That is, unless you apply conscious awareness to it.

Rather than allowing all the external perspectives to be subconsciously absorbed into your inner being, you can pause and look at them. Consciously, here and now, you can look at the image/video/person/place/thing being presented to you and ask yourself:

What is this? Why is this? What does this mean to me? Is this something I agree or disagree with? How does this make me feel?

This is part of how you can examine any and all outside perspectives presented to you and decide what impact, if any, they will have on you.

Photo by Johannes Ortner on UnsplashYou can choose to shift your perspective

You have far more control over your life experience than you probably realize. However, many of the “powers that be” – as in other human “authorities” of varying types – prefer you not to believe this. Why? So that they can control you.

For example, a certain politician wants you to believe that everything is broken and the only way to fix it is to break it even more thoroughly. They and their cohorts want you to see that certain people -who are in no way responsible for any of those problems – are to blame for them. And they bombard, inundate, and thoroughly overwhelm everyone with messages to that effect.

When you pause, take a breath, and engage active conscious awareness, you can see for yourself if that perspective is genuine or skewed. You can choose to shift your own perspective to what matches your beliefs, values, habits, and the like. (IMPORTANT NOTE – You only can control YOUR perspective. You have ZERO control over what others believe, value, and do. Ergo, you can only change yourself and your perspective.)

How? By engaging active conscious awareness via mindfulness.

This is done by becoming consciously aware, rather than letting the subconscious do the driving. It begins by asking yourself what you’re thinking, what and how you’re feeling, what your intentions are, if you’re approaching things from a place of positivity or negatively, and what actions you are or aren’t taking.

Why does this work? Because you are the only one in your head, heart, and soul. Recognizing that, you can see how you alone get to ultimately choose who, what, where, how, and why you are.

Self-awareness at its most basic

There is a backlash against self-awareness that doesn’t make any sense. This concept of “wokeness” being a bad thing is utterly ludicrous because the opposite of being “woke” is being asleep and unaware.

Basic self-awareness, at its core, is all about looking inside yourself and engaging your conscious mind with your subconscious mind. That informs you about who, what, where, how, and why you are. From there, you can decide if you are okay with what you find – or – if you desire to alter it.

This is where you have all control. That’s why “they” – the aforementioned “authorities” – prefer you not be truly aware of it. Because when you are, you get to choose and decide your perspective of life, the universe, and everything for yourself.

Your perspective is yours to control. All you need to do is use your conscious awareness – mindfulness – here and now, at this moment, to look at your subconscious beliefs, values, and habits. Then you can see if your perspective is truly what you desire, or if you would like to shift it. That’s wholly yours to control when you make active choices and decisions to do that.

Choosing to shift your perspective isn’t hard

It’s all about practicing mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, intentions, and approach to direct your actions.

When you recognize and acknowledge that you’re the only one in your head, heart, and soul, you can choose to engage mindfulness to look at your subconscious, see if your perspective on things is what you desire it to be, and if not, change it. Knowing that you can shift your perspective as you see fit – and choose to accept or reject the perspectives of others – you can take more control over your life experience.

This empowers you, and your empowerment can empower others around you.

Consciously choosing your approach to life towards positivity or negativity – from the vast cylinder that exists between them – shifts life in a way that opens greater dialogue. From that broader dialogue, you can recognize, explore, and share where you are between the extremes and how that impacts you here and now.

Choosing thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions for yourself employs an approach and attitude of positivity for realizing amazing potential and possibilities for your life.

The better aware you are of yourself here and now, the better you can choose and decide what, how, and why your life experiences will be. When you empower yourself, it can spread to those around you for their empowerment.

Thank you for coming along on this journey.

This is the five-hundred-and-seventy-fourth (574) entry of my Positivity series. I hope that these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog, and spread the positivity.

Please visit here to explore all my published fiction and non-fiction.

The post Can You Choose to Shift Your Perspective? appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

If You’re Not “Woke” You’re Asleep And/Or Controlled

Let’s just cut through the BS, shall we?Photo by Sweet Life on Unsplash

Awake, or “woke”, means that you’re present and aware. The opposite would be to be asleep, not present, unaware, and open to being controlled.

It really is that simple, my friends. You’re either awake and capable of assuming control or asleep and letting someone else do the driving. That’s what it all comes down to.

“Woke”, as such, is in no way, shape, or form, a bad thing. Being awake means you have options, choices, and opportunities to decide what your life will look like.

If you’re not “woke” you are asleep at the switch. It means you have opened yourself to the control of others, ideas that might not be entirely yours, and unconsciously or subconsciously existing with half a life.

Yes, it really is that ludicrous to call “woke” out as something negative and bad to be. This insane buzzword concept doesn’t even hold up under the lightest scrutiny. Why? Because nobody stands alone in the world.

You are one of 8 billion people on planet Earth. All 8,000,000,000 people are individuals with their own unique hopes, dreams, aspirations, desires, and the like. What they do share – and nobody has disproven this belief of mine yet – is a desire to experience kindness, compassion, empathy, and the overall notion of love that’s all about connectivity and inclusion.

Anytime someone derides “wokeness” they’re telling you that they prefer to be asleep, unaware, and disconnected from reality. Harsh? Nope, honest. Because that is the unabashed truth of the matter.

While we’re here:

DEI is life

Along this line, let’s look at the massive disassembly of DEI initiatives across the United States. This has been especially ugly with the new administration, but that’s par for the course with them.

DEI is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. And it’s life. Know why? Because the world is not just white, straight cis-gendered, straight men. Period.

Nope. There are also black men, Asian men, Latino men, and tons of other varieties. Oh, and there are also women – and tons of varieties among them beyond white, too. And, despite efforts to erase them, there are and have always been nonbinary individuals who are neither or both genders.

Also, not everyone is straight. There are homosexuals, bisexuals, and tons of other options and ways for how people have intimate, loving, and/or sexual relations. Yes, this also applies to monogamy and polyamory. Diversity is our world, period.

Here’s the most infuriating part of all this. The white, straight, cis-gendered men aren’t the majority. Not at all. Sorry, guys, but given the populations of China and India alone, we’re outnumbered.

And there is not a damned thing wrong with that truth. Think that sucks? I don’t. You know what does suck? How this shrinking minority can’t accept that others who are not like them deserve equity and inclusion. DESERVE. Why? Because all of us are human beings, and nobody is more deserving than anyone else.

As a white, cis-gendered straight male, I’m offended by a great many who share my gender identity.

Photo by Bayo Adegunloye on UnsplashYou can’t walk any chosen path without being “woke”

If you seek to make any choices or decisions for your life, you can’t do it asleep or unaware.

When you are not awake you are not consciously aware. Ergo, you can’t make any active, in-the-moment choices or decisions. That means you are unable to choose who, what, where, how, or why you are.

To me, this is a very “duh” thing. How come it isn’t obvious to others? “Woke” is consciously aware of things. Specifically, things both within and without you.

No man is an island. Nobody lives in a vacuum completely detached from the world. More than this, no two people have the same experiences in life. Everyone is unique and goes through things differently.

Many otherwise well-balanced white men have the privilege that comes with that so deeply ingrained that they can’t fathom any other experience. Sure, in a perfect world merit will get you where you seek to go. Yeah? Then explain how an infinitely more qualified non-white woman lost the presidential race to a convicted felon who proved previously he couldn’t do the job well. Sorry, but no matter what answers you might have, no matter how additionally valid and plausible they might be, the true answer is white male privilege. But I digress.

The point of all of this today is that “woke” means you’re not asleep at the wheel or allowing yourself to be controlled by others. “Woke” means you are empowered to make choices and decisions about your life experience. If you’re not awake you can’t actively, consciously choose and/or decide jack shit.

Be “woke” and think critically

Think about. Most people who get bent out of shape over the idea of “woke”, DEI, critical race theory, equal rights, and the like, are scared. They have accepted that life is all about lack, scarcity, insufficiency, and fear. They think that the pies in life are limited and if they don’t get or keep what’s theirs they will lose everything.

Nothing could be further from the truth. That’s because the material things “in limited supply” are not what matters. What matters are the immaterial intangibles. Connectivity, kindness, compassion, empathy, love, etc. These are the things people truly desire, and they are abundant beyond your wildest imagination.

Don’t let fear drive you to accept the idea that anyone else should control you or direct your life. Don’t be asleep. Wake up and be empowered. If you give this even the slightest bit of thought, you’ll see that the idea of “woke” being bad is utterly ludicrous and makes no sense at all.

Wouldn’t you rather be awake to make choices and decisions than asleep and at the mercy of others?

This is the six-hundred-eighty-fifth (685) exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are my ideas for – and experiences with – applying mindfulness and positivity to walk along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.

I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world and empower as many people as I can with conscious reality creation.

Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-post and share this.

The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. Check out my author website for the rest of my published fiction and nonfiction works.

The post If You’re Not “Woke” You’re Asleep And/Or Controlled appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

You Feel What You Feel When You Feel It

Feelings are valid even when they don’t make sense.Photo by Brock Wegner on Unsplash

We live in perhaps the most confounding, incredible, infuriating times imaginable. The human race is connected in ways never before imagined with little to no delay.

However, as part of the tools that offer us such amazing connection, humans are more disconnected than ever. This is in part due to confirmation bias being weaponized alongside fear. You’re right that it all sucks and you should blame “them” for it.

Because of the instant connectivity you and I have, news bombards and overwhelms us at a rate that no single person could possibly process. It’s really not a surprise that so many people are taken in by snake oil salesmen, propaganda posing as news, clickbait, and the like. If you don’t pause and consciously analyze what’s being beamed intrusively into your head, heart, and soul, your subconscious buys the bullshit and drives the bus that is your life.

A lot of times, you feel things someone will suggest (if not outright tell you) that you “should” or “shouldn’t” feel. You’ll be praised if you feel “X” and admonished if you feel “Y”. The mysterious “they” will accept you for feeling this way and reject you for feeling that way. It’s mind-boggling.

The thing is, nobody can tell you what or how to feel. That’s because you feel what you feel when you feel it. Your feelings are totally valid – even when they don’t make sense.

The complexities of feelings

Feelings are incredibly complex, to the point that they majorly throw people off. That’s why the idea of the Vulcans in Star Trek – who have learned to completely control and repress their emotions – is so appealing to many. It certainly feels like not having to deal with your feelings would be way easier than having to deal with them.

Part of the issue with feelings is that they have 3 distinct components to them. The first is what. What you feel is the label you give it. This has positive and negative aspects, including (but by no means limited to) happy, sad, angry, joyful, hurt, scared, afraid, ecstatic, enthusiastic, confused, and on and on. That’s the what.

How you feel is a whole other animal. It’s also wildly variable. Take anger as a perfect example of this. In one situation, anger might be icy, cold, and deep. In another, it might be fiery, hot, and narrow. It can also shift from one to the other over time or as things increase or decrease it. How you feel is unique to you and isn’t always easy to put into words.

The third component is harder to quantify. It’s the place where the what and the how of the feeling meet and generate emotions. This can impact other elements of how you do things, what approach you take to them, and your overall positivity and negativity. Feelings are also defined by bias, prejudice, knowledge, understanding, and both conscious and subconscious beliefs, values, and habits.

It’s the third component where the what and how of feelings blend or clash that leaves you sometimes unable to explain, describe, or otherwise share your feelings – even with yourself. And that is part of what makes it all far more complex and infuriating/frustrating/unusual.

You feel what you feel when you feel it

Feelings do not come with a right and a wrong. Just like they don’t come with a black and a white. They can and do fall in between such extremes, but that is part of the three-component isness of feelings.

Your feelings are valid even when they make no sense to anyone else – or to you. They are complex, variable, and can be incredibly confusing, confounding, disconcerting, and unfathomable.

There is no One True Way or One True Feeling in any given situation. That’s why two people can be fans of the same thing and react completely differently to a property. I’ve been a Star Wars fan since my childhood, and while many abhor what Disney has “done” to Star Wars, I enjoy a lot of it.

The problem is when someone tells you your feelings are not valid. While it might seem innocuous when it comes to things like fandom, it’s not. When people tell you that you’re wrong, the thing you like about that property is what’s wrong with it, which often extends beyond. You’re wrong about the new Star Trek series and also how the world works is not too far a stretch these days.

Nobody but you can validate what and how you feel. Period. You feel what you feel when you feel it because that’s how it works. Remember, nobody but you is in your head, heart, and soul. Ergo, you, and you alone, can feel what you feel.

Similarly, you and you alone can become consciously aware of your feelings, thoughts, intentions, positive or negative approach, and actions. And of course, it’s all tied together.

Photo by Clay Banks on UnsplashConscious awareness takes work

Because of the utter bombardment of information you get, much of your time is likely spent living subconsciously. The way society works, you’re expected to follow patterns and routines of wake, work, sleep, repeat – and the like – in a way that encourages subconscious habit.

Feelings tend to get shunted down because they’re messy, unpredictable, wildly variable, and often seem rather crazy. Add to that messages of how and what you should feel based on the expectation of others – often far removed from you and your life experience – it’s no wonder we’re in the middle of a global mental health crisis.

You, however, are empowered to work with this, understand what and how you feel, and change it if you desire to. That’s a matter of active conscious awareness – i.e. mindfulness. To use this, all you do is become consciously aware – right now – of what you’re thinking, what and how you’re feeling, your intentions, if your approach is positive or negative, and what actions you are (or aren’t) taking.

Whatever you come up with, your feelings are valid. You feel what you feel when you feel it. But then you have the power to accept it or change it. That choice is wholly yours. Don’t be afraid to exercise that power to choose and decide for your life experience.

Accepting that how and what you feel is valid isn’t hard

It’s all about practicing mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, intentions, and approach to direct your actions.

When you recognize and acknowledge that you’re the only one in your head, heart, and soul, and what you feel belongs to you and only you – and is thus valid – you can accept or change your feelings. Knowing that your feelings are yours and valid for you, and nobody can tell you what or how to feel because they aren’t you, you can decide to keep them or change them via mindfulness as a given situation warrants.

This empowers you, and your empowerment can empower others around you.

Consciously choosing your approach to life towards positivity or negativity – from the vast cylinder that exists between them – shifts life in a way that opens greater dialogue. From that broader dialogue, you can recognize, explore, and share where you are between the extremes and how that impacts you here and now.

Choosing thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions for yourself employs an approach and attitude of positivity for realizing amazing potential and possibilities for your life.

The better aware you are of yourself here and now, the better you can choose and decide what, how, and why your life experiences will be. When you empower yourself, it can spread to those around you for their empowerment.

Thank you for coming along on this journey.

This is the five-hundred-and-seventy-third (573) entry of my Positivity series. I hope that these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog, and spread the positivity.

Please visit here to explore all my published fiction and non-fiction.

The post You Feel What You Feel When You Feel It appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

Fear Is Always There, But You Can Choose How It Impacts You

Fear is a choice more often than not.Photo by Emmeline T. on Unsplash

In its original incarnation, fear is not a bad thing. That’s because fear in its purest form keeps you alive.

Fear of predators, of climbing too high in the trees, of running too gingerly at the edges of cliffs, of swimming too deep into the waves, kept early humankind alive. Really, it’s by the grace of fear that the human race evolved to the place we enjoy now, atop the food chain with nary a predator we can’t fight off.

Unfortunately, fear has also evolved. Now, more than the tangibles that will lead to death, it’s all about the intangibles that lead to embarrassment, shame, regret, self-loathing, and the like. Now it’s all about fear of failure, abandonment, missing out, and numerous matters great and small but all intangible.

Then, just to add insult to injury, with fear being mostly intangible, it’s increasingly weaponized. How else did the USA reach the place we’re at today? Weaponizing fear of “the other”, of scarcity, insufficiency, lack, and the idea of losing what you already have. Deepening the fear base of society and taking it up another level.

When you look at the outside world, it can be scary. There is so much concern, uncertainty, and various forms of fear in your face.

That, however, is the key. In your face, outside of you. That’s something you can choose to do something about.

Everything is an inside job

When all is said and done, you are the only one in your head, heart, and soul. Nobody but you can think, feel, intend, or act for you but you. What’s more, nobody can force you to be, do, or act in any way you don’t choose.

It often feels like this is a lie. Or if it’s not a lie, such actions will be deemed selfish and/or irresponsible and/or unacceptable. This is not true, however.

In the end, you choose who, what, where, how, and why you are. Even if the choices you have to pick from come with limitations due to location, environment, financial situation, education, and other outside influences, you still have and can make them.

Looking more closely, it becomes clear that most of the dissatisfaction and uncertainty people feel arises from choices and decisions not made. People wait too long and lose out, allow indecision to stay their hand, or choose small and less than they’re worthy of for fear of failure and/or success. Think about it, look at your life and the people in it. Every time I have, I can’t disprove this idea.

When it comes to all the things in the world outside of you, and how scary they are, you can do little to nothing about them. What you can and do control, however, are your choices and decisions. Even the little, seemingly insignificant ones can and do have a broader impact on your day-to-day life experience.

Photo by Jaqueline Fritz on UnsplashIs your fear here and now or otherwise abstract?

Another important matter is this: Now, the present, is the only time that is completely, totally, and utterly real. The past has come and gone and gets colored by nostalgia, Pollyanaism, personal biases, prejudices, beliefs, and other surreal elements. The future, on the other hand, is unwritten and can’t be predicted because, to be blunt, shit happens.

Classical, tangible fear was an in-the-moment reaction to a lion stalking you, the branch you were standing on cracking, emerging from the tall grass at a run onto a cliff’s edge, feeling a strong undercurrent pulling at you, and the like. Real, tangible, life-or-death danger in the present. A healthy fear that allowed you to choose options to preserve your life.

Intangible fear is seldom life or death. Because it still feels like it is, however, we take it as literally as tangible fear. Yet we are capable of recognizing and acknowledging this. From there, we gain the power to choose to let it impact us – or not.

To recognize the choice, you must recognize and acknowledge if what you are afraid of is something tangible, in the here and now, or an abstract. If the former, take appropriate action to stay alive. But, if – more likely – it’s the latter, choose a course of action to circumvent and walk away from it.

Yes, this is easier said than done. But once you start, you gain strength each time. Like working any muscle, the more you work it the stronger it gets. This is just as true of choosing and deciding whether to be afraid of intangibles or not.

Choice is not disregard

One very important note. Just because it’s intangible doesn’t mean it’s not harmful. Statistically speaking, for example, the first time you smoke a cigarette you’re likely to come to no harm. Become a regular smoker, however, and now you’re putting your life in danger.

Some of the things you fear coming to pass will be harmful if they do. Remain diligent about them and do something if you can. But hyper-focusing on them, studying them from every angle, and sharing the worst-case scenarios far and wide does nobody, especially yourself, any good.

Consciousness creates reality. I’m not saying that to suggest you ignore or disregard the possibility of the bad you’re worrying about. What I am saying is you should take this knowledge and put your focus on a tangible opposite of what you fear. Focus on people who can help prevent or fix the issue, give your attention to things “for” your cause rather than “against” it, and take action proactively rather than reactively.

Empowering yourself is not selfish. What’s more, when you’re empowered, you raise your energetic, vibrational frequency. When your frequency is raised that can raise the frequencies of other people around you. But you can only choose and decide for yourself and inspire/empower others. What they choose and decide you can’t control.

Seek out more reason and logic. Strive to be an example of courage and don’t let the fear overwhelm you or dictate your life experience. Know that you’re worthy and deserving of being the best you that you can be and living life here and now without fear driving you.

No, this isn’t easy. But I know I’d rather choose and decide if fear will impact me or not.

What will you choose and/or decide?

This is the six-hundred-eighty-fourth (684) exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are my ideas for – and experiences with – applying mindfulness and positivity to walk along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.

I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world and empower as many people as I can with conscious reality creation.

Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-post and share this.

The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. Check out my author website for the rest of my published fiction and nonfiction works.

The post Fear Is Always There, But You Can Choose How It Impacts You appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

They Only Win if You and I Let Them Win

History is not on their side.Photo by Felix Mittermeier on Unsplash

People do not do well with change. This is especially true when change is swift and feels sudden.

The world has, arguably, changed more in the last 100 years than at any other time in history. Arguably, the biggest change is in communications and connectivity. A hundred years ago, you maybe knew what was happening across the state. That is, if you were one of the 20% of the people who had a radio. Today, you can know what’s happening on the other side of the globe right the fuck now. Instantly, with no delay.

Less than 50 years before that, you were lucky if you knew what was happening on the other side of your neighborhood. Communications and connections have changed exponentially in a century.

Because of this, information once only available at a slow pace, if at all, can be learned right the hell now. If you would like to learn how a dehumidifier pulls moisture out of the air, or how a jet engine works, all you need to do is ask Google, Bing, or another search engine, and you will have an answer. (It might not be the right answer, but fact-checking is another matter entirely).

This is the biggest change that has caused such hardline conservativism and descent to grow. Because those in more rural areas with less connectivity are feeling left out, abandoned, thrown away, and certain leaders are telling them they should feel that way. And get revenge on the “others” who have caused this.

Recognizing this is important because it gives you context. The context, in turn, can help you see, from a more neutral position, a key reason why the world is here. You can also see that they only win if you and I let them win.

The power of false information and propaganda

I have something of a conspiracy theory. It’s this – mainstream media has become increasingly privatized. They need to sell advertising to make money for the corporation(s) that owns them. A leader who does their job and stirs no pots doesn’t get a lot of attention. A leader who is constantly unpredictable, stirs all the pots, and might well be mentally ill? So, so many people watch that disaster.

You cannot log into social media, read, listen to, or watch any news channel online, on the radio, or TV, without hearing the latest surreal thing going on. It increasingly feels like these unkind, uncompassionate, unempathetic assholes are unstoppable and bullying their way through everyone and everything.

Hence my new conspiracy theory. It’s as if someone wants us to feel defeated, give in, and roll over while they destroy decades of progress. Let them win – because they already have.

Except they haven’t. Not by a longshot.

What they have done is get the aggrieved to believe in them. They’ve persuaded those afraid of change to throw blame to various people and groups (like LGBTQA+ people, POC, women, migrants, intellectuals, liberals, and so on), and use fear like a scythe through a field of wheat. They’ve intimidated, bullied, and cheated to gain a thin majority that doesn’t reflect reality at all.

That’s why they only win if you and I let them win.

Photo by Anna Samoylova on UnsplashDon’t let them win

I will admit that I have a degree of privilege here because I’m a white, middle-aged male. But I’m not a Christian, and identify ethnically/culturally as Jewish, so I’m likely to be targeted, too.

However, I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving the country, nor shutting up about things like accountability, mindfulness, conscious reality creation, or any and all matters of free thought. I will still push for more learning, understanding, kindness, compassion, empathy, and non-toxic positivity.

There’s no question this is a scary time. If you’re one of the more targeted groups or people, I’m here to support you however I can. Marching in and attending more protests? If I can reasonably be there, I will.

Most of all, I’m not giving up on the potential for basic human decency. Why? Because I know more people who are basically decent humans than not. And I know nobody who doesn’t desire kindness, compassion, and empathy in their life.

How do you not let them win? Keep being your best self and enrich your life with experience and education. Don’t give up, give in, and accept that this insanity can’t be changed.

History is not on their side

Every dictatorship falls. Change is the only constant in the universe and progress is inevitable. You can resist it all you want, but the truth is that the majority roll with it. However, when the truth of the artifice is revealed it always goes against the lies. Ergo, when the aggrieved currently supporting the liars realize how bad the lie is, things will go poorly for the liars on many levels.

Guess what? LGBTQA+ people have ALWAYS been here and always will be. People of color will outnumber white people in the USA soon. Women are not in any way, shape, or form lesser than men. No faith is more right than any other. Oh, and liberals are not actively trying to take your lands/guns/way of life (but change controlled by no individuals might be).

They only win if you and I let them win. You do the driving by seeking, finding, and/or making small bits of positivity for your life and choosing active conscious awareness – mindfulness. Your life is yours, and they can only take it from you when you give it up. They can only win if you let them. And I sure as hell know that I won’t let them win.

This is not easy. But it sure as hell beats the alternative. And, most of all, none of us is fighting this fight alone.

Knowing that they only win if you let them win isn’t hard

It’s all about practicing mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, intentions, and approach to direct your actions.

When you recognize and acknowledge that they are using lack, scarcity, insufficiency, and fear to stir the pot and rile up the masses, you can apply reason, logic, non-toxic positivity, and abundance to and for you and your life. Knowing that history is not on their side – and that they only win if you and I let them win – we can use our empathy, compassion, and kindness via applied mindfulness to resist and keep fighting the good fight.

This empowers you, and your empowerment can empower others around you.

Consciously choosing your approach to life towards positivity or negativity – from the vast cylinder that exists between them – shifts life in a way that opens greater dialogue. From that broader dialogue, you can recognize, explore, and share where you are between the extremes and how that impacts you here and now.

Choosing thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions for yourself employs an approach and attitude of positivity for realizing amazing potential and possibilities for your life.

The better aware you are of yourself here and now, the better you can choose and decide what, how, and why your life experiences will be. When you empower yourself, it can spread to those around you for their empowerment.

Thank you for coming along on this journey.

This is the five-hundred-and-seventy-second (572) entry of my Positivity series. I hope that these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog, and spread the positivity.

Please visit here to explore all my published fiction and non-fiction.

The post They Only Win if You and I Let Them Win appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

How Do I Still Walk My Chosen Path During All This?

Every day is its own.Photo by Dawid Zawiła on Unsplash

I made a choice to spend way, way less time on social media. Granted, I had already reduced my social media usage over the past couple of years. Now, though, even that time is being cut way down.

Yes, you can still find me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and BlueSky. Hell, despite that new (but not surprising) issues with Meta, I’m doing click-testing with ads as part of a course to help improve my marketing.

Why am I decreasing my personal use of social media otherwise? For the sake of my sanity. Yes, I want to stay abreast of the news so that I am not blindsided by what’s happening. But regarding my mental, emotional, spiritual, and ultimately physical health/wellness/wellbeing, I don’t need to see it constantly.

Yes, there are very good reasons to be afraid. I know that we need to keep up the conversation because not doing so is a form of complacency. Especially in the face of some truly unkind, hateful, and downright evil actions on the part of the new American administration. Knowledge is power and empowerment, after all.

Lamenting every little detail, stewing over the increasing injustice, and getting worked up over the daily fuckery, however, is unhealthy. That’s because, to be blunt, there’s nothing I can do about it here and now.

So, I will continue to work on my craft, share my thoughts on mindfulness, conscious reality creation, and the like, and walk my chosen path.

What if it feels wrong?

Therein lies the rub. With all the bullshit happening in the world today, it feels like I’m doing a disservice by walking my chosen path during all this. How can I pursue my art in the face of so much injustice, hatred, bigotry, and the rest?

Because apart from giving it my time and energy, analyzing it to death, soaking it up like a sponge, right now there’s not a damned thing I can do.

I voted in the last election. If needs be I’ll attend protests like I have before. If it feels right, I’ll donate money to those organizations fighting for all those increasingly being disregarded and marginalized. I’ll vote in all the elections ahead.

That’s all I can do. Right here, right now, I can’t do jack shit for anyone else. That’s a harsh truth, and I hate it. But there’s nothing I can do here and now about it.

Even recognizing, acknowledging, and knowing this, it feels wrong. How can I pursue my path and strive for my goals in the face of this insanity?

The answer is this: Because today is another day. All you control is your life experience. You can choose to work with it, against it, or for it. You either live your life subconsciously and cede control to this, that, or the other thing – Or – employ active conscious awareness and mindfulness to choose and walk your path.

Photo by Kostiantyn Vierkieiev on UnsplashHow to still walk my chosen path during all this

First, an important truth. It is in no way, shape, or form selfish to choose and walk your own chosen path.

The reason why is this: Because every day is its own. You can’t live in the past because it has come and gone. Likewise, you can’t live in the future because it’s unknown and unwritten. Hence, the only time in which you are at all in control, and can genuinely, consciously, mindfully live is now.

Here and now, this moment in time, is the only moment that is wholly, fully, truly real. At this moment you can make choices and decisions to be who, what, where, how, and why you are. You can choose and decide your way and walk your chosen path.

How? By starting with active conscious awareness. Mindfulness. This is comprised of inner and outer components.

First and foremost, there are the inner components. This is what’s in your head, heart, and soul. To know this, you must become consciously aware, in the present, of:

What you’re thinkingHow and what you’re feelingWhat your intentions areIf your approach to things is positive or negative, andWhat actions you take

This gets coupled with the outside components. That’s employing your six senses to be situationally aware here and now via sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, and instinct. In this way, you engage active conscious awareness – i.e., mindfulness.

Note – this only works for you. This can’t be done for anyone other than yourself. That’s because you alone are in your head, heart, and soul. Just like nobody else is in yours, you can’t be anyone else’s.

From there, via active conscious awareness, you can make choices and decisions to walk your chosen path.

There is one last important consideration here.

Give yourself permission to walk your chosen path

If you’re anything like me, this currently feels wrong. In the face of this insanity in the world, it feels selfish.

Here’s the thing – are you causing anyone intentional hurt and harm? (Intentional is important – ending a relationship will cause hurt/harm, but that’s not why you do it, so the hurt/harm isn’t intentional). Will this deny someone rights, cookies, or otherwise include you taking more than your fair share? Will you willfully ignore and push past and through people to get what you want?

If you answered no to all of these, then you are not in any way being selfish. Selfishness is willfully causing distress and harm to have your way and not giving a shit about anyone else.

You are the only one who can live your life. Thus, you’re the only one who can choose and then walk your chosen path. It might be awkward, and it might feel wrong, but if you don’t choose to act today, then when? You can’t act from the past and the future is uncertain. So, give yourself the love, courage, and permission to walk your chosen path.

You are ultimately worthy and deserving of this. And guess what? When you walk your chosen path with kindness, compassion, and empathy, it can positively impact and empower others.

I find that utterly worthwhile. How about you?

This is the six-hundred-eighty-third (683) exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are my ideas for – and experiences with – applying mindfulness and positivity to walk along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.

I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world and empower as many people as I can with conscious reality creation.

Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-post and share this.

The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. Check out my author website for the rest of my published fiction and nonfiction works.

The post How Do I Still Walk My Chosen Path During All This? appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

When It Feels Like It All Sucks, Can You Find Positivity Anywhere?

Yes, but it probably won’t feel all that positive.Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

If you’re reading this, chances are that today feels like a really awful day. Let’s be honest. A terrible, unkind, hateful, spiteful bigot is swearing an oath we all know he can’t and won’t uphold today. The future of the United States, and the world, feels incredibly, frighteningly uncertain.

Even his supporters are feeling the misery, negativity, and depression. He carries it like a badge of honor and doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself. This is massively upsetting, depressing, and scary, all at the same time.

It feels very much like it all sucks right now. How did we get here? Did the CERN supercollider somehow suck us into an utterly backasswards alternative universe when they turned it on? Are reason, common sense, and logic out to lunch for good?

These are, of course, rhetorical questions. Yet we all still ask them in one sense or another. Particularly when it feels like it all sucks and there is next to nothing that we can do about it.

What can you do? Only this: Take hold of your life and keep living.

Maybe not just another day, but…

Unless you live under a rock, have hermitted away somewhere for the last year, or otherwise are disconnected from the human race (and if you’re reading this then I know you’re not) you are feeling it today. The tension. The concern. What happens next? What will he do? Will all his billionaire buddies fuck us all over that much harder?

These are all scary questions with no answers. Because until whatever happens, happens, it’s going to be an unknown.

But worse than that, there’s not a damned thing you or I can do about it. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Hopefully, you voted. Maybe you are giving or will give money to organizations creating roadblocks to some of the more awful goals presented thus far. You might attend rallies and protests.

And that’s all that you can do. Frustrating, right?

So, what can you do? What positivity can there possibly be in the face of all this?

You. Your life. You are here. Right now, in this moment, you live. Only you are in your head, heart, and soul. Right here and now, you can do something positive and good for you and your life.

What would that be? Maybe read a book. Watch something that makes you laugh. Eat something that makes you feel good. Take a bubble bath. Go for a walk in nature. Do something, anything, for you, that makes you feel good.

Selfish? Not in any way, shape, or form. Here and now, living this one life you have, the only genuine control you have is for yourself and your life experiences.

Photo by Alex Muromtsev on UnsplashEven when it feels like it all sucks

No matter what happens, today is, in and of itself, just another day. What’s going to happen? We won’t know until we know. Tomorrow? Same thing. You don’t know until it happens.

You and I have no control over the world. From the people we care about to the politicians in DC to the weather to climate change, you and I control NONE OF IT. Sorry, we’re at the mercy of the unknown.

With one key exception. You. What you can control is you. When all is said and done you control who, what, where, how, and why you are. Ultimately, you make choices and decisions to be the person you are.

If you’re not content with this, you can change it. Maybe not easily, maybe not without some drastic measures. But you can. It starts by becoming more consciously aware, right now, of yourself.

This is mindfulness in action. It begins with looking within and seeing what you’re thinking, what and how you’re feeling, what intentions you have, if your approach to any given thing is positive or negative, and actions that you do or don’t take.

The thing to remember is this – so long as you do no harm, and aren’t intentionally taking more than your fair share – while leaving little to nothing behind – this approach isn’t selfish. In truth, by being better connected to your inner being, you can better connect to the world around you.

This is not easy, and it feels disingenuous. But it’s that, or make yourself sick, depressed, scared, unhappy, lost, uncertain, and generally negative questioning all the “What if?” horrors and possibilities ad nauseam.

It may not feel all that positive, but it’s better than the alternative. And if consciousness creates reality, what would you rather see come to pass?

Recognizing you can find positivity when it feels like it all sucks isn’t hard

It’s all about practicing mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, intentions, and approach to direct your actions.

When you recognize and acknowledge that all you can control is you and your life via your choices and decisions, even when it feels as if it all sucks, you can find and/or create positivity in the moment. Knowing that now is the only time that is genuinely, truly real, and you can only control your mindset/headspace/psyche self, making choices and decisions – here and now – for yourself is all you can do to combat the feeling that this all sucks.

This empowers you, and your empowerment can empower others around you.

Consciously choosing your approach to life towards positivity or negativity – from the vast cylinder that exists between them – shifts life in a way that opens greater dialogue. From that broader dialogue, you can recognize, explore, and share where you are between the extremes and how that impacts you here and now.

Choosing thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions for yourself employs an approach and attitude of positivity for realizing amazing potential and possibilities for your life.

The better aware you are of yourself here and now, the better you can choose and decide what, how, and why your life experiences will be. When you empower yourself, it can spread to those around you for their empowerment.

Thank you for coming along on this journey.

This is the five-hundred-and-seventy-first (571) entry of my Positivity series. I hope that these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog, and spread the positivity.

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