It’s Not All Doom and Gloom
Yet the media showing us nothing but doom and gloom sells.
It’s impossible to avoid.
If you read or watch any news source whatsoever – it sure as hell looks like everything is coming apart.
Between climate change causing unheard of weather conditions; distressing and authoritarian laws taking away women’s rights; racism, sexism, classism, and a mad mad mad world – the doom and gloom is everywhere.
To be honest – we can’t just close our eyes, pretend it doesn’t exist, and hope it will go away. But at the same time – we need to be cognizant of what we CAN do – and work to stay in that lane alone.
For example – these Draconian measures passed in Texas. For the most part, all I can do is vote for my local congresspeople and President, attend protests to keep people aware, and boycott products and services from Texas. I can write letters and donate to causes associated with fighting this insanity.
But that’s about it. The same applies to all things climate-related, employment-related, and globally.
It feels massively overwhelming. And some people love to use this dark narrative to further their causes and beliefs.
But the truth is that life is NOT all doom and gloom.
How do I know that? Because odds are you are reading this at your leisure from a technological device somewhere with readily available heat, cooling, clean running water, and the like.
Right at this moment, you are living. And though you may have stressors, concerns, and other issues going on – you’re here. And you are not in immediate danger of major upheavals or death resulting from the doom and gloom being presented to you.
I know that seems disingenuous. But that doesn’t make it any less true.
It’s bad – but not how you think
There are some truly terrible things happening right now. That’s undeniable.
But as bad as it is – it’s not all doom and gloom. The narrative telling us this is where the problem truly lies.
The media needs to make money. To do so they need to get advertisers. Advertisers place their ads where the most people will see them.
When presented with tales of doom and gloom – people watch and read. Thus, advertisers buy ad space, news media makes money, and the cycle continues.
There was a time when the news media was held to a specific standard of fairness and truth. But that’s not been the case for decades now. Thus, you get a degree of bias – sometimes lesser and other times greater – towards certain viewpoints or others from a slight direction in perspective to outright bullshit.
In all instances, no matter the bias – doom and gloom sell. It’s a part of human nature to witness horror – which is why disaster movies and horror movies keep getting made. When presented with doom and gloom – people watch it.
An emphasis is put on all things doom and gloom. And before you know it – that’s the dominant conversation.
That issue we’re lamenting is bad, no question – but it’s been embellished and amplified exponentially by different parties for both good and bad reasons.
It’s a subtle form of manipulation we all fall for. And I do mean all of us. Why? Because it’s the norm. this is how it’s been for at least the last 20 years. And everyone tends to think that’s how it’s always been as such.
Unless we recognize this for ourselves, we’ll continue to see awful, no good, terrible things that are unquestionably bad and that we need to be mindful of – but not with such visceral immediacy.
Doom and gloom and a grain of salt
Global warming is a real problem we shouldn’t ignore. The new laws in Texas are a massive human rights violation against women’s autonomy. The Taliban control of Afghanistan is not good for anyone.
It’s important to be aware of all of this. But there’s no need to be utterly inundated by it. This sort of shit always happens. And it always will.
Yes, lots of doom and gloom – but we need to remember that we can do very little for the big picture. Keeping that in mind, we can make a conscious effort to not let the doom and gloom make us miserable.
Vote for politicians who want to do something about global warming and give a shit about women’s autonomy. Practice water and power conservation to do your part. Get the COVID vaccine. Boycott businesses supporting terrible things. Donate money to worthy causes working for the greater good. If it makes you feel good, attend protests and such.
That’s about all that you and I can do about these terrible, no good, doom and gloom situations. When we recognize, acknowledge, and accept this – we can move past the doom and gloom narrative.
As bad as it is – and it’s bad – for the most part its immediate impact on us is negligible. Unless your home was destroyed by an effect of climate change, you live in Texas and need an abortion, live in Afghanistan and are female, or otherwise directly impacted by the doom and gloom happenings – you are okay.
I am not downplaying the problems. I’m NOT suggesting toxic positivity or otherwise wearing rose-colored glasses and ignoring these happenings. What I am saying is that these things are not as immediately damning as they seem.
Mindfulness for conscious awareness
Mindfulness puts you in the here-and-now. That makes you consciously aware of yourself and how, what, where, and why you are in the world – right now.
Then, you empower yourself. By being aware of how, what, where, and why you are – you gain control of these factors. That allows you to make choices and decisions for all the things you are doing.
Right now is the only time that’s truly real. The past has come and gone; the future is unwritten. All the doom and gloom tends to focus on “What if?” scenarios that may or may not come to pass. They get us looking to the past and make the future doubly uncertain – and further emphasize the doom and gloom.
When we practice being mindful, we can live in the now more effectively. That, in turn, helps us to do our small part to keep the doom and gloom at bay.
When we take our eyes off the doom and gloom narrative – we make it sell less. That empowerment betters us all.
Be aware of the shit happening in the world. But don’t let it scare you from living your own life here and now. This is the only time for you – and while the doom and gloom narrative is scary, it’s not the whole picture.
You are here, now, and with a few exceptions likely doing okay. Focus on that – rather than the doom and gloom that – bad as it is – isn’t as horrific as the picture suggests.
Pause. Take a deep breath. Be present here and now. So long as you are here you have options, choices, potential, and possibilities. Focus on that – and the doom and gloom will not dominate and be further empowered.
Consciousness creates reality and you’re stronger than you know.
Recognizing it’s not all doom and gloom isn’t hard
It begins with mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions.
Knowing that your life is yours to control – you can be present in the here-and-now and focus on what you have, rather than the doom and gloom narrative of the world at large When you see more clearly, in the now, how your life is and isn’t impacted by that doom and gloom narrative – you can take control over where, what, why, and how you are. That ultimately empowers you.
When you are empowered, your mindfulness increases, you become more aware overall, and that gets reflected and spreads to other people. This creates a feedback loop of awareness and positivity – a feedback loop everyone everywhere can take part in.
Then, together, we build more positive feelings and discover further reasons to feel positivity and gratitude. That becomes the impetus to improve numerous aspects of our lives for the better, help overcome the overwhelming negativity of any current situation, and generate yet more positivity and gratitude.
You, me, and everybody are worthy and deserving of all the good we desire.
An attitude of gratitude is an attitude of pure positivity. That positivity can generate even greater positive energies – and that is always worthwhile.
This is the three-hundred and ninety-sixth entry of my Positivity series. It is my hope these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog, and spread the positivity.
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