Dear helliongoddess:

I read both your recent posts. I very much like your mother’s answer about the shop clerk. It is worthy of being framed and hung on the wall.

I agree: he is most likely tremendously unhappy. The few photos I saw of him do show an unhappy expression, didn’t see that unhappiness in photos of presidents before him. There are other indications, to me, of his unhappiness.

A note of caution, if I may: not only do you need to watch your blood pressure but notice the affects of your online involvement, on the matter, on other people. If other people are as helpless regarding the president as I believe they are, coupled with increased and maintained state of fear can cause them such distress that they may drive inattentively, have accidents and maybe their blood pressure too will go up.

I understand your long time passion of being involved and I understand it can be helpful to the common good, at times. But notice: it is not always so. The combination of fear (the most powerful emotion) and the experience of helplessness is often overwhelming and leads to the very thing you try to prevent: harm, accidents and even death.

In one’s passion to prevent harm, one can create harm.

I am not recommending the attitude of: let’s ignore the danger, pretend it doesn’t exist. I am recommending a realistic discernment between what we cannot change at any one time and what we can. As well as considering unintended affects and effects.

I visited a “Preppers” group not long ago, a non-militarized, harmless group (not advocating or engaged in violence, and focused on survival without modern conveniences in case of end-of-the-world scenarios)- thing is, as people there learn and practice canning food and starting a fire, a few of them were morbidly obese and had the resulting health issues. They didn’t attend to the current, more immediate danger to their lives, but focused on end of the world scenarios.

As people focus on ONE danger most passionately, other dangers are often overlooked.

In a similar way, keep your attention on politics regarding what is realistically in your power to do to help, but focus on your day-to-day health and your contribution to others’ present, daily health.

Post again, anytime.

anita