A Survival Guide for the Worst-Case Scenario

Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash

Lately, I daydream about the things we could all be doing over the coming years if we didn't have to work tirelessly to protect ourselves from the incoming President and his rogues gallery Administration. I imagine you do, too.

Tens of millions of Americans are exhausted, depleted, worn to the bone right now. Since November 5th, many of us have quite literally not stopped: consumed with tending to our social media feeds, participating in the work of equality, grieving the seemingly hourly barrage of bad news, arguing with strangers and family members, trying to anticipate the incomprehensible around the corner.

And most of us, whether we realize it or not, are doing it all to the detriment of something else: our physical health, our creativity, our marriages, our children, our mental state, our faith pursuits, our simple enjoyment of this life—a life which, by the way, we are smack dab in the middle of right now and in great danger of missing.

With every yes we say to the healing of the world, we are saying no to something else, and as someone who has said yes as much as I can lately, I realize that I've often passed on some really important, beautiful, life-sustaining things—and these things are as precious and fleeting as the seconds that tick away.

As we resist all that is here and all that is coming, there are a few things we can't forget to do right now:

Be relentlessly present. Most of us were already perpetually tethered to our devices long before November, but right now such uninterrupted negativity is altering our ability to be wherever we are and whoever we're with at a given moment. Your story is currently in progress. Your children are growing at blinding speed, your friends are struggling with divorce, your parents are getting older. They deserve the best of you. Yes, staying informed and engaged in the world is critical, but there is life happening across the table or on the couch or playing in the backyard—and we can't afford to miss it, or this once-in-a-lifetime, never-to-be-repeated second. Cease doom-scrolling about what is in the distance and in the future and see the small world within arm's reach right now.

Cultivate nourishing relationships. Chances are this election has strained your connections with people, even if you're not aware of it. As you pour energy into the pushing back against hatred and the opposing of inequity, people around you are experiencing a deficit; of your attention, your availability, your patience—the best version of you that you can give them. Sometimes they will let you know as much, but most of the time you're going to have to be self-aware and realize that because they love you, they're willing to accept less of you. Fight hard not to force them to have to.