Coping With Loss

Donald Trump is President. Young people are shot in the streets. Massacres overtake the universities and workplaces of the United States. The Aleppo tragedy continues everyday. I voted for Donald Trump but I am still trying to determine what’s his strategy for being friendly with Russia. The same Russia that is friendly with Assad, the President of Syria. The President of Syria who is in charge of the bombing of his own Aleppo in order to demonstrate to the world that ISIS is in control.  2016 was a mess. 2017 is a little better but the world’s problems continue.

We deal with our own personal difficulties. Divorce. Bad grades. Our health. Our financial status. I dealt with increased racial and gender stereotypes in 2016 that took place immediately after major events like mass shootings and Presidential debates.

Today I want to focus on the good that is happening in the world today. This nation can truly heal individually and collectively when we appeal to our highest ideals.

Politics. Donald Trump said divisive things during the campaign. Trump himself acknowledged this. There are, however, tidbits of good that occurred pre-Inauguration Day. I suspect good things will happen within the first one-hundred days as well. Shortly before Trump took office some companies that were going to move jobs from the United States to Mexico decided not to do so. Trump issued argumentative Tweets but he also reminded our Congressional Representatives to focus on the issues that matter- bringing back jobs, focusing on crime and other like topics.

Obama was an excellent President. He moved the United States ahead on so many social, economic and war-related policies. Bin Laden is dead. Obama actively promoted the idea that liberal-leaning colleges be open to tolerating while at the same time disliking the views of Republican-leaning speakers. Both men have done alot of great things to move this country forward even if you disagree with their policy.

Family. An astrologist who recently appeared on the Steve Harvey Show, a nationally-syndicated talk show, mentioned that 2017 is going to be a year in which family members will decide to live together in order to save their financial situations. What is the current financial or social situation you or your family members themselves are in at the moment? Budget your time and money accordingly in order of priority, accessibility and need. Immediate family are to be cared for first. Can you spare funding after the immediate family is taken care of? Do your research and use common sense.

John Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist church, made a statement that sums it up best:

Do all the good you can.

By all the means you can.

In all the ways you can.

In all the places you can.

At all the times you can.

To all the people you can.

As long as ever you can.

Self-care. When it seems like everything is going bad remember how you got through the last hard time in your life. Do you still have food and shelter? Have you thanked all the people who helped you with advice or material things during your last tragedy? A thankful heart keeps the focus on using those past strategies to get yourself out of your current situation. A thankful heart also shifts some of the focus on others. There is joy in knowing that you can help somebody else and that you were humble enough to allow someone to help you. Allow someone else to experience happiness knowing that their actions improved someone else’s life.