It's really easy these days to fall into mind-modes of despair and uncertainty and as you can read on this I also get sucked into feelings of self-doubt and worry more often than I would like.
But then I realize it really comes down to not only the constant mind-chatter of the ego trying to gauge a complicated situation and ultimately despairing at trying to figure it out... but the general, near-obsessive tendency to let in information that doesn't help at all in the hopes that it somehow does.
It's not like we should only look for positive things to occupy our minds with - challenges arise and they want to be seen and recognized, they need to be confronted and demand an answer from us as conscious individuals. But as much as that is so it's also the case that it's easy to lose our heads in the turmoil of information, the onslaught of redundant bits of narratives that only add to our hearts' heavy weight instead of easing some of those pains.
We are living in times where it becomes increasingly essential to feed our minds with the right kind of food.
Diets for our bodies have become a much debated and pondered issue but still we are living in a world where we indulge in unhealthy mental diets all too often and do not even notice when they start to be indigestible for us. I find I do that way too often still.
It's almost like an addiction, looking for that next bit of information that we hope can lift us out of our self-constructed prison of the mind. We may feel it's not helping but we pursue it regardless.
I tend to hit that point again and again where I need to catch and stop myself from indulging any further before I end up in a downward spiral. Far from a mistake this is a great opportunity to course-correct because these feelings can show us what we are doing wrong, they call into our lives the need for a more constructive environment to meet our challenges and they serve as a reminder that feeling despair and overemotional worry do not help to solve our problems - they make them seem larger then they actually are while we pretend they are an exact replica of what is, emphasizing aspects and feeding our minds with reinforcing beliefs that do not serve us.
And so this current situation has helped me become more conscious again about the information and sources of information I let into my subconscious on a daily basis.
For example: There is no point to follow the developments in the political arena because I have long ceased to see it as a place of merit and more like a distraction. Rather I find it invaluable these days to listen to people who bring my mind back to a neutral position, sources of information and reminders that refocus my mind's monologue towards constructive ends. To purposefully immerse myself in the world of those who call for positive action and acts of compassionate courgae right now, people and causes that radiate life-giving energetic qualities instead of blame and short-sighted narratives I have long stopped believing in.
In that way it is like quitting a fast food addiction and continuously coming back to it expecting it to be different now, but it isn't. It's still garbage.
I feel the more I refocus consciously during this time of upheaval the more able I am to not only spot those detracting sources of commentary and input early on, but also opt to not dig myself into a deeper hole than my mind may already feel itself in due to all the binging.
It really comes down to what we choose to entertain and while horror movies (whether fictional or world-stagy) may be fun to watch now and then, it really is only logical and to be expected to turn into a zombie ourselves when all we entertain and immerse ourselves in are dystopic visions of short-sightedness and fear.
Awareness about the blunders of the system - YES. But not at the cost of our inner sanity and mental clarity. We need our strength more than ever and I am willing to work on honing mine whenever possible.
This may entail learning skills and seeing how easy things can be accomplished that empower - youtube is full of it. Rather than following the analysis of some politician's latest takes on an artificial situation that disempowers all who get sucked into its narrative.
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