I need to know that things won't get any worse - and may even get better. I need to know that the people we elected to look after our well-being are doing just that. I need to know that the future will improve on the present.
I need reassurance that the planet isn't heading for destruction. That humanity isn't heading for destruction. That Britain's chronic political paralysis won't last much longer. That the rampant hatred and xenophobia and misogyny will die down. That the NHS won't be sold off to the highest bidder. That the old and disabled and vulnerable won't be treated like intolerable burdens.
It's not enough to trot out the usual vacuous phrases. "Don't worry, it'll all be okay". "It's not as bad as you think." "It'll all look better in the morning." I want serious, convincing, evidence-based reassurance. I want to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I want to see the sunny uplands on the horizon.
I can't just shut out the world and retreat into my own little personal bubble of friends and family and my favourite TV programmes. The world keeps tapping me on the shoulder saying "Do you see the mess we're in? What's being done about it? Does anyone care?"
I need reassurance - and lots of it.
I think you are asking for the impossible. Pull yourself together man, after all, we are British!
ReplyDelete*slaps Nick around head with a wet kipper to instil some sense*
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All the things that you list have existed all your three score and ten plus years and you have survived. And, quite successfully too, in my opinion. You have my assurance that you will continue to survive successfully despite all the ill winds that are blowing across the universe.
ReplyDeleteMs Scarlet: By Jove, you're right, I'm British. Stiff upper lip, what? Can't be seen blubbing, dontcha know. It'll all look better in the morning....
ReplyDeleteRamana: I may survive a few more years, but how successfully is another matter. I might sink into a hopeless mental fog in the local care home.
I agree it is bloody difficult to keep one's head straight and not bowed into a hopeless resignation as this cancerous take over of the planet continues non-stop, encouraged by greedy pols and their voracious puppeteers, the corporate monsters. BUT I do take ownership of this which oddly helps.
ReplyDeleteWhat have I done? What do I plan to do? Go down sobbing or go down fighting? Do I unplug and live my last remotely and in peace?
Serious questions. I do not jest. We are in crisis.
XO
WWW
"I need to know that the future will improve on the present."
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately not in the near term, not in our lifetime. Time to break out Viktor Frankl, Marcus Aurelius or anyone else talking about how to be a human in the face of our worlds falling apart. Or there's Ashleigh Brilliant, "I feel so much better now that I have given up hope."
PS I'm afraid Rummuser's comment reminds me of the fellow who jumped off the top of the Empire State Building. As he passed the 8th floor someone asked how he was doing. "It's going great so far!"
ReplyDeleteAnd they always warn you when buying stocks that past performance doesn't guarantee future returns.
www: I'm not sobbing and I'm not fighting, but what influence do I have over the politicians who are in denial about so many shocking situations? Precious little. All I can do is hope they begin to act a bit more responsibly.
ReplyDeleteJean: Well, as far as climate breakdown is concerned, if the future doesn't improve on the present, we're all in deep shit. But I can see what Ashleigh Brilliant is getting at too. Hope so often ends in disappointment. A bit like that other aphorism, expect the worst and you might be pleasantly surprised.
ReplyDeleteI suspect "it's going great so far" is how President Trump views what's happening to the global climate.
I have been studying mindfulness. It teaches you to live in the moment rather than worry about the future. I'm not very good at that yet but it is making me more hopeful. Worry doesn't actually help anything. But, if you mindfully choose your actions you can make right now be better--for yourself and for others.
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ReplyDeleteI can't influence the goons running the show...all I can do is to try to suggest that we the voters do not support the current political parties but try to encourage g enuine independents to stand for office.
There won't be promises, except from fools. It's up to the rest of us to work on remedy. First and foremost, VOTE. Select and support candidates who understand and are motivated to achieve the best.
ReplyDeleteLinda: I did try meditation once but couldn't get the hang of it - my mind is too restless. But I do whatever I can to make the world a better place - or at least my little corner of it.
ReplyDeleteHelen: More genuine independents are sorely needed. But politicians are reluctant to break free of their cosy political parties.
Joanne: I agree, the main thing is to vote, even if you're not all that keen on whoever you're voting for. As someone once said, if you don't vote, the idiots get elected.
ReplyDeleteNick, I relayed your answer (to Linda's comment)"I did try meditation once but couldn't get the hang of it - my mind is too restless" to the Angel. I hope you'll be pleased at his response: "Well, at least he does have the insight to admit it didn't work for him instead of dismissing meditation outright". Which, apparently, is what many people do.
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Ursula: I'm always happy to admit I've tried some fashionable thing but decided it wasn't for me. I know thousands of people get benefit from mindfulness, so I wouldn't just trash it for no reason. Ditto religion, which may not work for me but inspires huge numbers of people.
ReplyDeleteIf you put your trust in government, you will always be disappointed. I believe that mindfulness or prayer are better options.
ReplyDeleteWe cannot possibly know how things will turn out. Best to take action about things you can do something about not worry about things you cant. I know it is hard. Maybe you could start by stopping reading and viewing the news and think about being grateful for what you have, and have had. And choose the best politicians and fight for them too. Most humans in the history of the world have lived with uncertainty and fear. But, Having said all that, i am truly sympathetic, i know how you feel.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: I certainly don't put my trust in government, they've let us all down so many times in so many ways. But at the same time, it's their job to look after citizens' well-being and do the things we can't do for ourselves. Mindfulness and prayer can only take us so far.
ReplyDeleteJenny: Oh, I do all the things you're suggesting. Change the things I'm able to change, try not to worry about everything else, don't pay too much attention to the news, support the best politicians, be grateful for what I have (and I am - extremely grateful).
ReplyDeleteBut having said that, we're still facing an alarming future and great uncertainty about how our lives will pan out. I'm with Greta Thunberg, climate breakdown is a massive threat to humanity and not enough is being done to reverse it.
I, also, cannot meditate. But meditation is not the same thing as mindfulness. Meditation tries to get you to sit (or walk) quietly while letting your brain rest. Mindfulness says pay extreme attention to what is happening right now. If you are eating a meal for instance, pay attention to the feel, smell and taste of the food. Pay attention to how you are sitting and how the food is making you feel. Pay attention to the location where you are eating. Etc. If you become mindful of what you are doing, it will change how you feel about what you are doing which tends to lead to making better choices. It's hard to eat much junk food mindfully. :)
ReplyDeleteLinda: That's an interesting distinction. I'm probably simplifying wildly here, but it seems from what you say that mindfulness is basically being much more aware of what you're doing and feeling and what's happening around you, instead of simply ploughing through life with a sort of over-focused tunnel vision. I like to think I already have a fairly broad awareness, but I'm probably wrong!
ReplyDeleteThe world's always been shit in some way or other, and mankind has a talent for not learning from its mistakes. However, we're still here, being kept in place by a perpetual state of fear by the media with its endless stream of doom and gloom. The ongoing obsession with the national embarrassment that is Brexit is just the latest in a long line of scaremongering bullshit - remember the Y2K nonsense? Don't worry, there's more good stuff going on around you than bad, it's just that you have to dig a little deeper to find it.
ReplyDeleteThat's not reassurance any of us can give. Especially right now. We're in a precarious place.
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