Positivity is Not Superficial
Positivity can seem pretty superficial in the face of reality.
This has made writing this particularly difficult for me today. My government is doing something truly awful, and while on the one hand I feel powerless to do anything about this, I will not be quiet and ignore it, either. And it is infuriating.
Pardon the interruption, but I am going to state this right now. We cannot stand for this disgusting action on the part of the US government. Separating children from their parents, unless they are endangered by said parents, is complete bullshit. We need to demand our useless lawmakers take action, and do something about this. It is imperative that we be vocal and forthright in demanding action. Silence led to the rise of the Nazis in Germany eighty-some-odd years ago, and that history will not be repeated.
If we become defeatist here, and we allow the negativity to sweep over us, we cannot turn this around. Positivity, taking proactive actions and striving for positive change in one form or another is the best way to garner the change we desire.
When we allow the negativity to dominate us and our actions, we cede control to these terrible things. If we stay silent but remain seething, we further disempower ourselves. Desire change? Negative begets negative, so we need to find and take positive actions.
That is how positivity is not superficial. Write letters and emails, make phone calls, organize and march in protests. VOTE in the elections. Intentional actions of resistance are how we empower ourselves, and take back sanity and reason where it has been lost.
Positivity also includes not neglecting the self
More than one of my friends has remarked that, in relation to the game we collectively play, it feels frivolous. How can we consider and make plans about a game and its various matters, in the face of this ugly reality? How can we still play when so many are suffering?
Because if all we do is fret about that which we cannot control, and we drop our lives simply because we think we are being impractical, we disempower ourselves. How? By not allowing ourselves to refuel. Everybody needs food, drink and rest to function. But that is not all we need. We also need to release tension, to play, to strengthen our own resolve and overcome the vast negativity around us.
Maybe my friends and I can take the game we play and put it to use to help the real world. Perhaps we hold a fundraiser of some sort among ourselves to support legal actions being taken in reaction to this evil. There are things we can do, even in our downtime hobbies, to take action in support of changing these things.
The primary matter here is to remember that giving up and giving in to the negativity helps nobody. When we feel defeated, we have already lost our ability to put up a fight. Positivity provides necessary fuel in these struggles. We should feel no guilt in empowering ourselves so that we can find and do more to effect needed change.
Finding positivity is not hard, but it does require action.
Knowing that it is not selfish, superficial, nor frivolous to seek and find positivity, especially in the face of so much ugliness, we can do so to build our strength. When we take a positive stance, rather than allow the negative to dominate us, we can better effect change and do more because we ultimately empower ourselves. When we feel empowered, we often spread that feeling to others around us, and as such can build more positive feelings. We can use the positive feelings this generates to dissolve negative feelings. When we take away negative feelings, we open up space to let in positive feelings, and that is something we can be grateful for. Gratitude leads to happiness. Happiness is the ultimate positive attitude. Positive attitude begets positive energy, and that is always a good thing.
This is the two-hundred and twenty-eighth 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.
After more than 6 years of weekly blogging, I have launched a Patreon to garner support for these works, and more.
