My spouse and I are doing a great job of both working 40+ hours per week from home, while also homeschooling our elementary-aged kids, while also keeping positive attitudes and finding silver linings. I’m proud of us. And my mood seems to tank when I expose myself to the news, specifically our president’s response to COVID.
C: I read Rush L. (the man our pres awarded our country’s highest civilian honor of the Medal of Freedom) say “We didn’t elect a president to defer to a bunch of health experts that we don’t know. And how do we know they’re even health experts [referring to Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci]…” and said the virus was the work of the Deep State.
T: How do people f-ing believe this? They are gaslighting the American public.
F: Sadness (thought loop with, “I can’t believe American’s believe this BS. What is wrong with people?!”
A: I disengage with work/family
R: I’m sad/angry, “stuck in my head”, don’t accomplish the things I’d like to get done.
This is the same with almost any C where I read the news of Trump/GOP.
On the one hand, I’m glad that I’m angry–everyone SHOULD be angry. And the thought+anger isn’t serving anyone (particularly me) when it results in simply inaction. Other thoughts that I tried in response to the same C:
T: I hope RL’s doctors (he has cancer) choose to not treat him and tell him “I mean, how do you really know we are health experts?!”
T: He can’t die soon enough
T: I can’t believe that 30% of our country believes this BS. –> This produces sadness.
T: What can I do to amplify the voices of rational people to seek to unite the country, not divide it for their own profit?
To be honest, I’ve spent more time controlling the C (trying to minimize my news exposure) than truly mastering my Thoughts around the C’s.
Avoiding the news is not in line with my values (I have the thought–> belief that humans have the responsibility to their fellow humans to know what is going on in the world; it is a sign of profound privilege if you can just turn off the news and be uninformed.) I’d love your advice on my model and finding new T’s without avoiding the C of Trump/GOP.
