It’s Not Really All Going to Shit

Apply practical mindfulness to see where you are and what you can do.Photo by Peter Herrmann on Unsplash

Spend any time watching the news or scrolling through social media, and chances are you’ll feel awful. The latest surreal act on the part of the Trump administration, the not-so-Supreme Court’s support of their BS, and the spinelessness and corruption in Congress are just depressing and/or infuriating as fuck.

If you spend any time at all focused on this, you probably feel like it’s all going to shit. That’s what every major and minor news outlet is telling you, at least. This is not normal, it’s truly awful, and it’s all coming apart at the seams.

I’m not saying that there aren’t people suffering and being hurt by it all. There are. You probably know someone who has been impacted by the government shutdown, ICE crackdowns, losing benefits, seeing surreal rises in prices, and like hardships. Maybe even you.

Even with that being true, it’s not really all going to shit. Know why? Because you’re here and you have the power to make choices, decisions, and take action from there.

Disempowerment to the people

The majority of the media outlets bringing you news and information today care more about their bottom line than fair, unbiased reporting. This has gotten worse and worse over the years as the diversity and independence of media ownership have shrunk dramatically.

Worse still, whole swaths of so-called “news” venues are biased propaganda and infotainment. They make shit up or cover from angles that only approach from one specific narrative, as accountability has been ruled unnecessary.

All of this is meant to make the parent company money. Eyes on your channel, be it on TV, social media, or elsewhere across the internet, means advertising revenue and a payday. And one of the best ways to get eyes on your channel is by stoking fear, outrage, and other negative emotions.

Again, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be outraged. What I’m saying is that you need to be mindful of how you channel it and if you’re being disempowered by it. Because in all probability, you are.

People who rely on outside influencers and resources for how to act, who to be, what to do, and so on, cede their empowerment. When your choices and decisions are made for the impression they make on others – rather than how you desire to think and feel – you’re being disempowered.

Disempowered people are easier to sway and point in given directions. Look at Trump’s most ardent followers, the heart of his cult, and you see a host of the disempowered who think their prophet gives them power (spoiler alert – he does not).

To take back your power, it’s important to recognize and acknowledge this. With that, you also need to see how it’s not really all going to shit.

It’s not really all going to shit

You are here. You’re alive. And you are, thus, capable of thinking, feeling, intending, and doing for yourself. You can make choices and decisions to determine what your life looks like.

Yes, you might have limitations due to finances, environment, health, and other factors outside of your control. But the things that you truly, genuinely own and control, nobody can take away from you. Yes, this is all about your mind, body, and spirit.

You, and only you, are in your head, heart, and soul. That means that you alone know who, what, where, how, and why you desire to be. To work with that, you are empowered to make choices and decisions about these things.

I know that you might be struggling, facing some hardship, and maybe hurting because of the state of the world. But you’re alive, you’re here, now, and have the ability to take control of your thoughts, feelings, intentions, approach, and actions. That means you get to choose your own adventure via conscious choices and decisions.

But if you’re caught in the quagmire of the narrative that it’s all going to shit, this feels like a lie. Worse, if you have any empathy at all, you likely feel bad seeing people suffering more than you and feel guilty or ashamed that you have it better than they do.

That’s also disempowering. And when you allow that feeling to dominate, you take away your ability to take action and contribute to the greater good.

Photo by Олег Мороз on UnsplashApply practical mindfulness

I have friends who are looking at furloughs and layoffs due to the ongoing government shutdown. I’m sure I know people who are looking at losing food-assistance benefits, too. What I can do for them is limited. But I can only assist if I make active choices and decisions to do so.

That’s what applied practical mindfulness is. You take stock of your present situation, and turn inwards to look at what you’re thinking, what and how you’re feeling, your intentions, the positivity or negativity of your approach, and your actions. Given that these are the only things over which you have total and complete control, they’re how you can be here, now, to do anything at all for anyone, yourself included.

When you use this for your life, you open yourself to potential and possibilities that you can employ to impact the greater good. But you need to see that the world isn’t all going to shit, because that’s how you can take action to do what you can to make it better for yourself. Then, you can help the greater good, too.

Seeing that it’s not really all going to shit isn’t hard

It’s all about practicing active conscious awareness (mindfulness) of your thoughts, feelings, intentions, and the positivity or negativity of your approach to direct your actions.

When you recognize and acknowledge that you can use your choices and decisions to take a mindful, aware look at the world, you can see that it’s not all going to shit. Knowing that you get to choose and decide how you approach life, what you do, and what you give your energy and attention to, you can work with this to take action and find and/or create more good things in the world at large.

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 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 opens the way for a positive approach and attitude via your actions. This can lead to 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 and empower them as well. That is an amazing conduit to help reason to overcome fear in the collective consciousness.

Thank you for coming along on this journey.

This is the six-hundred-thirteenth (613) entry of my Positivity series. I hope that these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, reblog, and spread the positivity.

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

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