Well, folks, 2025 is already a firehose of bad news. So, I am returning to a message that I posted in November on my website’s blog. The political vitriol, spitefulness, gaslighting, lies, and intentional cruelty, is ratcheting up, as expected. The trick here is to protect your spirit and heart from the pathologically selfish and cruel people.
Recently a dear friend gave me some advice: “Don’t give them what they don’t have.” So, do what you need to do to protect your precious focus, time, attention, heart and spirit. For example, if social media hijacks your attention, take a break. If news coverage elevates your heart rate, develop a plan to weigh and measure your intake. Choose your sources well.
I write to remind you, and to remind myself, that self-care is more important than ever! The world needs YOUR prefrontal cortex, the brain’s executive suite—the planner, learner, organizer, focuser, and implementer—to be online: calm and clear. A calm heart and clear mind make wise choices, as opposed to reactive responses. So, pay attention to your nervous system’s smoke signals and do what you need to do to have your own back.
I now know that my nervous system is getting fired up when day to day sequential and mundane tasks get harder. I’m forced to slow down, acknowledge the overwhelm and fear or my functioning gets worse. I am forced to get concrete, be in the moment, in my body, to use my senses and remind myself of all that I have, including the people that I love. The Gentle Souls Revolution requires protecting your spirit and heart:
1) Untrustworthy people don’t deserve my energy. When I squander my focus on them, I feed them and lose precious time for myself.
2) LIFE is SHORT. As much as possible, I need to focus on what I love: my family, friends, music, anything that feeds my soul, as opposed to draining my spirit. OR spent on proactively and effectively fighting fascism.
A calm and online executive suite gives me the ability to respond sanely to insane vitriol. A centered, grounded, and adult response has a much better chance to make a real difference.
So here's the headline: Calming your nervous system, bolstering your executive suite, make you better positioned to support the people that you love. Rest, nutrition, love, support, feeding your soul empower you to focus on and live by your authentic values, principles and passions.
It's go time; or time to take a breath and step back with your tools lined up and ready to go. Sometimes the tools are actions. Sometimes not. You'll know which option is the right option, by following your inner path to a calm heart and clear mind.
Inhale, exhale. Repeat.
~Esther
Esther Friedman
Author of The Gentle Souls Revolution
Website: gentlesoulsrevolution.com
Buy the book: https://a.co/d/4fLuoa0
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