Hospitals tell new parents: “take care of yourself before your kid” because you can’t help others if you’re a train wreck, and new parents will often forget to eat or sleep themselves.
Same goes for staying informed. Take your break, come back stronger.
What I do for myself is to pay attention to things that are actually happening, as well as things that people in power say, and ignoring (almost) all of the predictions and kvetching by panels of commentators.
I can’t fix everything. I can’t fix most things. I pay attention to those not with a mind towards “what can I do to fix this for everyone forever,” because that’s simply not possible.
The mindset I do need to be in is one of “be prepared to protect myself and my family and friends.” That has to be my priority now, and having some awareness of what I need to protect us all from is important. Just yesterday, I was thinking about how it may eventually be necessary to go get gasoline with two people, so that one can stand guard while the other fills containers.
This is a great and also difficult question to answer.
Personally, I’ve been doing my best to adapt to what I’m calling ‘selective ignorance.’ It stems from the phrase, “Ignorance is bliss.” Not knowing all of what’s going on in the world/nation/providence/state can be very useful when talking about mental health. But of course, it can leave one not knowing of the things that could have a negative (or positive) effect on them. But on the other side of things, desiring to ‘fix’ all of the problems will have us feeling spread too thin. (What do you mean you can’t ‘fix’ all of the major problems in the (insert here)?! /s) This actually reminds me of a gif I saw many years ago, showing how it feels to try to bug fix everything. You end up realizing that not every bug/problem needs to be fixed right away, and in some cases, it’s not worth worrying about this week/month/quarter/year/etc. Now of course this is overly simplifying things, but it helps illustrate the situation.
I’ve also taken the time to block communities, ban a handful of users, and even unfriend a few people in my life. So I can better manage my mental health and well being. Some might call it selfish… and that’s exactly what it is and should be. Taking care of oneself is the best way to help others (with limits of course.) I can’t seem to find it but there is a quote that states that you would first help yourself up before turning around to help the next person. And this has been a strong reminder to me. You can’t do as much good from the same pit the person you’re trying to help get them out of.
Blocking the news related communities is helpful. I don’t need to know about what is or is not going on in another part of the world if I myself, can’t help them. I also don’t need to hear more about how Elon Musk is a tool. I’m well aware of that. I don’t need to hear about the horrific things happening in Palestine. I’m aware of the kinds of things going on there. And if I really felt like I could make a positive difference to how my country and others treated the situation, I would more likely take action. But as for where my life is with the problems and situations I face, I am not in the best place to make a continuous positive change in these matters.
haha
no, but seriously… how do I deal with this?
You take occasional breaks.
Hospitals tell new parents: “take care of yourself before your kid” because you can’t help others if you’re a train wreck, and new parents will often forget to eat or sleep themselves.
Same goes for staying informed. Take your break, come back stronger.
What I do for myself is to pay attention to things that are actually happening, as well as things that people in power say, and ignoring (almost) all of the predictions and kvetching by panels of commentators.
Ahh, well… that’s precisely the problem. ):
Ah, yes, that.
I can’t fix everything. I can’t fix most things. I pay attention to those not with a mind towards “what can I do to fix this for everyone forever,” because that’s simply not possible.
The mindset I do need to be in is one of “be prepared to protect myself and my family and friends.” That has to be my priority now, and having some awareness of what I need to protect us all from is important. Just yesterday, I was thinking about how it may eventually be necessary to go get gasoline with two people, so that one can stand guard while the other fills containers.
Edit: And by “eventually” I mean “at any moment.”
This is a great and also difficult question to answer.
Personally, I’ve been doing my best to adapt to what I’m calling ‘selective ignorance.’ It stems from the phrase, “Ignorance is bliss.” Not knowing all of what’s going on in the world/nation/providence/state can be very useful when talking about mental health. But of course, it can leave one not knowing of the things that could have a negative (or positive) effect on them. But on the other side of things, desiring to ‘fix’ all of the problems will have us feeling spread too thin. (What do you mean you can’t ‘fix’ all of the major problems in the (insert here)?! /s) This actually reminds me of a gif I saw many years ago, showing how it feels to try to bug fix everything. You end up realizing that not every bug/problem needs to be fixed right away, and in some cases, it’s not worth worrying about this week/month/quarter/year/etc. Now of course this is overly simplifying things, but it helps illustrate the situation.
I’ve also taken the time to block communities, ban a handful of users, and even unfriend a few people in my life. So I can better manage my mental health and well being. Some might call it selfish… and that’s exactly what it is and should be. Taking care of oneself is the best way to help others (with limits of course.) I can’t seem to find it but there is a quote that states that you would first help yourself up before turning around to help the next person. And this has been a strong reminder to me. You can’t do as much good from the same pit the person you’re trying to help get them out of.
Blocking the news related communities is helpful. I don’t need to know about what is or is not going on in another part of the world if I myself, can’t help them. I also don’t need to hear more about how Elon Musk is a tool. I’m well aware of that. I don’t need to hear about the horrific things happening in Palestine. I’m aware of the kinds of things going on there. And if I really felt like I could make a positive difference to how my country and others treated the situation, I would more likely take action. But as for where my life is with the problems and situations I face, I am not in the best place to make a continuous positive change in these matters.
I hope that helped.