I find that 99% of the negativity is online. Interacting with people in person is way more pleasant and upbeat. And basically on youtube ignore all videos with clickbait titles like “We were Wrong about [whatever] - and it’s NOT GOOD!”, they’re all bullshit.

Hosting one or two regular game nights a week in my house has made a world of difference in my attitude.

Do you feel like a frog in water that keeps slowly getting hotter? It’s uncomfortable, you know it’s getting worse, but there really isn’t much to do, a lot of people yelling about it, things feel bad, your hands are tied, this isn’t how it’s supposed to be, i want something else, why the fuck is this happening?

Or do you just feel like your life is fine and will be fine and other people are bringing you down?

Join oddsrabbit

Everybody gets the fuckits from time to time.

I’m in the acceptance stage of grief; the world is a shithole. Some people will tell you about all the good in the world, but that is just being dismissive of the bad. Good does not simply cancel out the bad, especially when the recipients of the good and bad are different.

Instead, I try to focus on the things that I actually can change. If you have the means, volunteer or donate to a cause that is important to you.

Focus on the micro rather than the macro, otherwise it gets overwhelming.

Touch grass. Leave your phone home and go outside and enjoy nature. Go on a hike. Stop reading the news, any news, for a while, you will be fine.

I know it really doesn’t help, but remember that this is how they want you to feel

Gotta find your way back to this vibe. There’s a lot of good out there, a lot to be grateful for. And on a long term timescale the world is in many ways better than ever before on important stuff like infant mortality.

Get off the internet. Truly. When it gets to be too much, put your device away and do something else. My go-tos, I either cook something, play music or go for a walk.

It’s tough. Social contract is broken and yet we’re all still mostly working for capitalists and paying taxes. I think there are a lot of right answers and paths forward, but the current system and momentum is all in favor of increasing inequality.

I’ve spent the last several years just trying to understand it and that helps me. Seeing how things are currently playing out and events that lead there just makes it clearer. That and diving into hobbies that also double as useful collapse skills (gardening, leather work, 3d design and printing, electronics).

When I was a teen, I wanted to be the hero who saves the world. That’s impossible. I still felt the desire but age has tempered it. I still wish I could make everything better, but it’s more of a dream than a constant urge. So, I’ve decided to repeat to myself: I can’t save the world, but I can make my corner a little nicer.

Once I started framing my life like that, it’s a bit easier to do small things to improve my life. I can pick up that piece of litter. I can return that shopping cart.

I can’t stop corrupt politicians from being corrupt and ruining the planet and killing other people half a world away. I can only save my friends and family. So I focus on them.

Additionally, I filter out the news that makes me sad (tons still gets thru).

Get off social media and avoid the negative people in your life as much as you can for a bit. Read some books. Play a chill video game. Make something. Just get away from it for a while so you can re-center yourself.

Things are bad and we should be worried about them but there’s only so much any of us can do about it. If you don’t take care of yourself and your mental health you’re not going to be able to do good for anyone else when the time comes.

You need to be proactive about it which requires work. Challenge your assumptions, spend time thinking critically and philosophically, look at historic art and consider the tragedy those artists must’ve witnessed and how they turned that tragedy into something meaningful that can still affect us today.

I for one am somewhat optimistic about the future. Not just mine, but humanity as a whole. Sure, things are pretty shit for many people right now, but I believe it’ll get better.

But optimism doesn’t make for very interesting headlines or click bait.

So when negativity seems to be the only thing you see, look elsewhere. Hell, even look past the negativity - You’ll always find someone doing good in the midst of it all, simply because it’s the right thing to do.

Breaks are important. I think it’s good being interested in politics but too much can be exhausting. What I do is take a long walk preferably in nature. Music is a great outlet as well. And even though I think that you might not feel like doing sports, since I know that kind of fatigue you write about, I believe that this would help, too. And sometimes it’s sleep.

I encounter negativity when discussing politics online. Somehow quite a few people get insulting and expect me to change my view after. It’s irritating and hinders my will to be open minded when discussions are tinted with insults.

Anyway, I hope you find the things your mind needs to recover.