Remaining Sane in 2025

If this is even possible. It might not be ... but I'm going to give it a bash!

I believe there is pretty persuasive evidence that our species is insane. If we're insane on the species level, is it even possible for individual human beings to be entirely sane??

Well. Let's not go down that meandering philosophical rabbit hole here. We could debate it until the cows come home. But there are no cows hanging out where I live (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) ... so that would be a long conversation!

Instead, I'm compiling a list of things I think may help me remain at least vaguely sane in the midst of the swirling chaos.

Sort of a note to self, really - to which I will perhaps need to return in the coming months.

As a pep talk for myself, kind of.

Here goes:

• Just accept that in the world we now inhabit, facts have almost entirely lost their luster. Many folks just don't really care about facts. Or truth. Maybe they're just dumb. Or maybe reality is simply too bitter a pill to swallow - & since much truth/reality really is pretty darn hard to take, allow people their inability/refusal to grasp facts/truth. Though yes, I agree 100% that it can be darn frustrating at times!! Especially when you’re trying to help folks protect their health, their lives, their children’s health. I know, I know. Sigh.

• Acknowledge that we're all at least a little bit crazy. This helps!

• Maintain your sense of humour!

• Stop trying to change people. Nobody wants us to change them. Or "fix" them. Rather than offering people advice (it's probably wise to only offer advice if it's asked for, which let's face it, it hardly ever is), we can, I think, offer them information. If they're not open to information (many are not, apparently), just walk away. We've seen a lot of this in the Covid era, have we not? Offering people information about masks (& all the Covid measures) & vaccines - which was mostly ignored. So. This leads me to the next bit of advice for myself....

• Always remember that favourite quotation:

  “4 Rules for Life: Show up. Pay attention. Tell the truth. Don’t be attached to the results.” – Angeles Arrien, U.S. teacher, author (1940 – )

• Keep right on doing your own research.

• Stay curious!

• And ... when the awfulness of "the news" is too damn much, take a break from it. From devices. Social media. We really need our breaks from that stuff. (As time goes on, I find I am needing more & more of them.)

• Love my peeps. Family is sacred. (To me, anyway. Some families & relationships, you gotta walk away from. 'cos they're so toxic. I get it!)

• Expect the unexpected! I suspect there is liable to be a lot of this in 2025.

• Keep on walking! As often as energy (& the dreadful winter weather) permit. Preferably daily!

• Keep up the daily gratitude practice.

Btw, I took up both the walking & gratitude habits when my life was really in the toilet, a few decades back now. They really saved my butt, I’m not kidding. Either one can be transformational. I am not making that up! I’ve written lots about both. & compiled a bunch of postings (& great quotations about both, too. Gratitude here. Walking here.

• Keep on loving, & noticing, Nature. It's a pretty darn beautiful world!

• Keep on being a friendly & polite person. (I have great conversations with cab drivers on occasion! Or while waiting for a streetcar. I generally have to take the initiative to be friendly. Which is fine. Somebody has to go first!)

• Enjoy simple pleasures.

  “Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.

• Keep on reading! (lately I've been reading old Dave Barry books, among others. Barry is a now-retired humour columnist who lives in Florida. He's written a ton of books, & they're pretty funny!! Occasionally pretty insightful too. Hurray for the local library!!!)

• & keep up the (new-ish) prayer habit. This one is kind of oddball for me, given that I'm not really a "believer." Or, well, let's put it this way: not a fan of organized religion. Any of them. I am a student of mystery, though. Mystery with a capital M. And somehow prayer can be a comforting habit. So. Keep it up!

• Lower your expectations. Of yourself. Of others. These are very insane, & very chaotic, times we're living in, after all. Very challenging, surely, for all of us. For a variety of reasons, hmmm? So. Go easy on people. Including yourself.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” – Plato, Greek author & philosopher in Athens (427 B.C. – 347 B.C.)

Hmmmmmm. Maybe "lowering expectations" is not the right way of putting this. Maybe managing them is. Adjusting them. So, in my own case? I am not going to disappoint myself by expecting some of the people in my life to "get it" about certain things I really wish they'd get it about. They might. They might not. I can't let fussing over that make me crazier ... right? Well, I could, of course. But what would be the point?? Or expecting the heating system in my shabby apartment building to suddenly start working reasonably after years of spectacularly not doing so. Or the price of coffee (& everything else) to go down. Not gonna happen. (& yes, it's bloody insane how prices keep going up by leaps & bounds. Sheesh. & yikes. & OMG.)

I am not going to expect some people who are real dorks to stop being dorks ... or that the evil folks (of whom there are seemingly more than I used to know; can you say ai-yi-yi??) who run things on Planet Earth to stop being evil. & doing evil shit.

In order to not let it all make me too crazy, I'm going to keep up, in the Buddhist(?) phrase

Chopping wood, carrying water.

In other words, doing the necessary things. The basic things I need to do to keep going.

• Making meals & doing dishes

• Paying the bills

• Doing the laundry

• Taking out the garbage

• Cleaning my apartment … even if I don’t do it quite as often as I “should”

• Flossing my teeth

• Loving my peeps (yes, I'm repeating myself)

• Making use of myself when/where possible

• Hauling myself back into the present moment. Sure takes constant reminders, that! Our thoughts/worries/fears/anxieties can really run away on us!?

And… being mindful of this good advice:

I do believe that this may be a time of knowing that what we do as individuals matters. Really matters a lot. Not what the herd is doing so that we can obediently follow them. Not that. (We've kind of been there & done that ... right??)

Doing our best as individuals.

'cos it all matters.

Some Other Memes I Feel Like Throwing in Here

p.s. I need to add this: all this pep talk stuff? Everything I advocate about living our lives has to recognize that we can all only do it One. Day. At. A. Time. After I worked on this posting the other day? I fell down into a pretty deep pit of a mood. Ugh. Very very low, dark mood indeed. We all have our good days & bad days/moods … right? Some days are both “good” & “bad.” The day after that bad one was better. I did get out for a walk around 9 am … trying to capitalize on it being sunny, which it already wasn’t anymore, by the time I went out. We see the sun so seldom here in Toronto these days that it’s become something I am very grateful for, when it does make an appearance!

p.p.s. I said this to a friend the other day: “My own take is that the world is nuts, we're all a little nuts ourselves, & we all cling to beliefs that help us deal with the ramping insanity of life on Planet Earth at this time.” I think it’s true.

p.p.p.s. it’s been a couple days since I drafted this. It’s occurring to me now to add “Go easy on yourself… & other people too. Let’s all cut ourselves a little slack in these challenging times.” And also - give myself pats on the back for small achievements, since on some days it’s hard to get through my to-do list. Some days can feel like I’m walking through molasses. It’s pretty hard to get stuff done on those days. So. I cut myself some slack.

p.p.p.p.s. one more important thing I forgot to mention? Talking is awesome. Conversation is awesome - or it can be. So.