By iamsandykay on October 11, 2023

What to do when the world sucks.

Israel is murdering Palestinians. Hamas is murdering Israelis. Russians are murdering Ukrainians. George Santos lied about everything. Former-President Trump lied about everything. Governor Abbott (TX) is trying to defund public schools. Afghanistan has had two deadly earthquakes in two days. The US Congress is broken. There have been more than 500 mass shootings in the US so far this year. COVID is still here – there have been 15,353 new cases in the past week. More than 27 million people are currently victims of human trafficking and cannot get their freedom.

The media is prone to sensationalizing, deflecting, and flat-out lying on ALL sides. Propaganda is terrible and terrifying and it works so quickly.

It’s all too much.

I hate the “thoughts and prayers” posts we always see after tragedy.
I cannot stand how often we see “Look for the helpers.” I love Mr. Rogers, but this is SO over used anymore.

What can YOU do? What can I do?

I want to BE a helper, but there is little I can do to fix, solve, or even impact the world’s problems.

Here are a few action steps for when the world sucks.

SK Post it - Things to do when the world sucks

Turn off. Turn off the news, put away the socials, stay away from the constant barrage of information. Yes, it is good and important to be informed, but the constant stream of bad/horrifying news does not help anyone’s mental health.
Go outside. Or at least get some fresh air and sunlight.
Cuddle. Find a consenting human or a probably-unwilling pet for a few minutes of deep breathing and snuggles.
Distract yourself. Read a book. Watch a show or movie. Play a video game. Just don’t doom scroll through any of the socials.
Dance and/or Sing. Loudly. Terribly, if necessary. With someone or alone. Try to not bust out giggling.
Make a list. Write down all the things that are weighing on you – like my list at the top of this post. When it’s all out, look it over critically and notice which you can actually impact. Are there any? If there are, do what will make you feel like you are helping. For the ones that you cannot do anything about, hold them loosely and let them go. They are not your (personal) responsibility.