ME BIDDING FAREWELL TO THE CRAZY TRAIN

This long, strange trip we’re currently taking is not conducive to peace and tranquility.

If you’re anything like me, you sometimes find yourself going from mellow to melodramatic after visiting an online news source or dropping in on the Twitterverse.

An unwise visit to the comments section of almost anything these days can send me hurtling down the rails on the Crazy Train.

DON’T BE THESE GUYS.

• It’s important to remember (lord knows I try) that just because something is presented in the media as being an A-Priority-Threat, Full-Anxiety-Ahead doesn’t mean it actually is. There are a lot of agendas floating  around that count on eliciting knee-jerk reactions, keeping us divided among ourselves, and distracting us from what’s going on behind the scenes.  Also, things change with the speed of light, and Monday’s apocalyptic threat that kept us awake for two nights in a row may have fizzled to nothing by Wednesday.
• When something in the media (social or otherwise) gets to me, I’ve found it helpful to step away from the item in question, count to 10 (or 50, or 500, whatever it takes) and–this is important–immediately go do something else.  Doesn’t matter what–read, go for a walk, crank up the tunes and dance like nobody’s watching, do some housework (I’ve been known to commit domestic miracles while detoxing from an overdose of negative news).
• Don’t forget about the human touch.  I’m a card-carrying introvert, and my instinctive reaction to anything threatening or upsetting is to dive into my shell and pull up the drawbridge. (Yeah, I know, but it makes a neat mental picture.) However, these crazy, chaotic times have taught me two wonderful, really important things, both of which required emerging from the aforementioned shell:

We are all in this mess together, and there’s strength in numbers.

Give and/or accept help whenever you can–it raises the vibration for both the giver and the receiver, plus it makes the world a better place.

Take care, everybody!

Donna