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Hopeless about the future!

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  • July 12, 2022 at 6:37 pm #403906
    Lauren
    Participant

    Hi all! I’m twenty years old, and already feel incredibly hopeless and worried about the future, given the current political climate (I live in the US), and daunting threats like climate change. I feel like the majority of my convos w friends end up along the lines of “everything is terrible and will get worse, why do anything?”. I’m normally a super happy person, but I just can’t find a reason to be hopeful… I don’t feel like things will get any better. Any advice on how to deal with this would be nice– thank you.

    July 12, 2022 at 8:12 pm #403909
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear Lauren:

    I too live in the U.S., and I am very unhappy about the recent Supreme Court decisions, the political radicalization of recent years, the inflation and the most troubling: the global climate crisis. I deal with it by not thinking long term. Instead, my attitude is Living One day at a Time: today is all there is, and maybe tomorrow. Also, I do my best to apply what is called Radical Acceptance, meaning to completely accept what I cannot change, to relax into these undesirable situations.. because there is really nothing I can do about any of any of them; to stop resisting what I cannot change.

    Please post again, I would like to communicate with you further in the morning, in about 10 hours from now.

    anita

    July 13, 2022 at 6:20 am #403908
    QMS
    Participant

    Hi Lauren, I can relate.

    When I notice similar thoughts and emotions, I remind myself that things are impermanent and this moment is all I have. I also tend to catastrophize; I remind myself of the lesson of this parable: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_old_man_lost_his_horse. Finally, I take some action towards solving the problem. For example, you could start researching where else you might want to live and planning to emigrate elsewhere.

    ~qms

    July 13, 2022 at 2:12 pm #403932
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear Lauren:

    “Hopeless about the future!… I’m normally a super happy person, but I just can’t find a reason“- please go back to being super happy. Don’t get caught up (or down) in the reasons. There were always reasons to not be happy, way before climate change. There were reasons to not be happy as early on as “In the beginning” in that figurative Garden of Eden: Adam was not happy being without a woman, later he was unhappy with a woman… Eve was not happy because she was not allowed to eat  apples from that one tree… then she was unhappy about having to give birth.. the snake was unhappy for his own reasons. Always a reason, often multiple reasons.

    Be happy just because. Keep the world inside you happy regardless of the world outside, best you can.

    anita

     

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