Is Positivity Possible in The Face of This?
Non-toxic positivity is always possible, but…
I’m not going to lie. Writing about positivity, in the face of the US election results, feels disingenuous. How this is where we’re at is surreal, scary, and thoroughly disheartening.
The degree of uncertainty resulting from this is staggering. Trump made a lot of threats and promises of retribution, dismantling necessary agencies, and further disempowering women, the LGBTQA+ community, POC, immigrants, and pretty much everyone who is not white, cis-male, and wealthy. Worse, the uncertainty is coupled with fear, terror, distress, and tons of other negative emotions and ideas.
Positivity in the face of this feels impossible. Yet, the truth is, without positivity – genuine, non-toxic positivity – they win. These terrible people and their horrid plans win if we allow the negativity of this to overwhelm us.
I am not telling you not to feel scared, bad, uncertain, or otherwise negative. I feel it. Your feelings are utterly valid in the face of this clusterfuck. Yet if all you and I do is let the utter horror and negativity of this situation be the end, the final answer and result, then they win.
Because as much as this sucks, so long as you and I are still here, still striving to live life as best we can, find and/or create moments of small bits of positivity in our lives, you and I still have the power to change this again.
Reality sucks
I don’t get it. How on Earth Trump even managed to run again, after being twice impeached and attempting to change the outcome of the last election, is beyond me. Why the party still backed him despite his utter lack of morality, ethics, or basic civility stuns me. Hence, I feel angry, disillusioned, and deeply concerned about where the nation and the world will go.
I did my part by voting in the election. Of course, when the time comes, I’ll join protests and give time and whatever else I can to worthy causes intent on maintaining and expanding the body autonomy and rights of women, the rights of the LGBTQA+ community, people of color, and the like. Unfortunately, that’s all that I can do.
Sure, I could run away. I have no doubt many will. For some, that might be the answer. For me, and most of the people I know and care about, it’s not. So, we can either just give in, lament what’s coming, and live in fear of what happens next. Or we do what we can to be strong, to prepare to stand up for what’s right, decent, and good for the masses, and to stand up to the bullies when they make their moves.
I can’t deny this feels hard, it sucks, and it’s scary. Reality sucks. But since we can’t undo this or make people be more decent, kind, compassionate, and capable of giving a shit about others, we can fight, flee, or give up.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t give up in the face of bullies.
Genuine positivity always exists
In the midst of this scary insanity, my wife and I are moving. We’re moving into a new house that we get to make our home. That’s still happening even though we’re here, in this fucked up reality. And seeing the positivity in that empowers us.
I won’t deny that, to some degree, this feels selfish. In the middle of this scary bullshit, I have a good thing happening. Maybe there is a selfish element to it, but the truth is that it’s still a good thing. And I am not a bad person for taking the positivity of this and using it to empower myself. Especially when I will use the power of that empowerment to stand up for the people I care about and stand up against the bullies.
The ultimate truth about these people and what they seek to do is that they’re bullies. They seek to dominate by belittling those they believe they’re more powerful than. Maybe they’ve gained a modicum of “power” by their dominance of the election. However, since their only vision is one of dismantling and disempowering, they bully because they know they can only succeed via micro-aggressions.
A bully is a loud, obnoxious, fearful individual lashing out to generate a sense of self-sovereignty. What do these people fear? Change. A world they won’t dominate. Loss of the fake control they think they have.
When you recognize this, one thing you can do to disempower the bullies is to find and/or create genuine positivity in your life. Watch something that makes you laugh. Do something small but helpful to someone else. Call or text a friend in need. Tell someone you love them.
These truths of reality don’t go away, even in the face of this insanity.
You empower you
I know that one of the most disheartening, disappointing, and scary aspects of the result of this election is a clear vision of how seemingly gullible, unkind, and apparently clueless so many people are. As much as I would like to find answers, that won’t change things. You and I cannot think, feel, intend, or act for anyone else. All you can do is be the best you that you can be. Ultimately, you empower you.
A key to empowerment is to find and/or create genuine positivity to spark forward movement. With limited options for anything you can to change the world at large, you can work on and with your life. You empower yourself via choices and decisions that you make. Maybe the world has gotten scarier and darker on many levels, but you still get to choose and decide who, what, where, how, and why you ultimately are.
That’s why positivity is not only possible in the face of this – but necessary. Otherwise, you might as well roll over and accept the idea that you’re powerless because you’ll make yourself powerless. You are still here, living, breathing, existing. Actively choosing and deciding empowers you, and positivity in choices and decisions builds you and your life. Even in the middle of all this awfulness that remains true.
It won’t be easy, but none of us are alone. That is a strength we can use together to get through this.
Positivity in the face of this might be hard
But it still exists. It’s all about practicing mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, intentions, and approach to direct your actions.
When you recognize and acknowledge that reality sucks, and you have limited options for what you can do, you can work with that and employ small bits of positivity to build better for your life. Knowing that you can use this to build better, first for yourself and then for others, you can practice making more choices and decisions to use positivity to take a stand against the bullies, for yourself, and beyond.
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. With a 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-sixty-first (561) 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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