How You Make An IMPACT! (PERSONAL)

July 30, 2021 ~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬. ❤️

In 2008 I started working at a Boy Scout camp in Wisconsin. For 8 weeks every summer, I worked alongside dozens of other camp counselors to create a fun and memorable summer for Scouts, Leaders, and Parents alike! It was nothing like I had ever experienced before! 😄

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟖 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭! 🙏

It was the week I was assigned to work with a Troop, and I met a young Scout named Evan. At 11 years old, it was his first time attending camp, as well as his first time ever being away from home for an entire week!

Many Scouts typically see their week up at camp as an opportunity to be away from home and to be free from daily responsibilities. But for Evan it was a different story. By the time Day 2 had arrived, he ha become really homesick. 😔

I remember seeing him cry outside the camp’s main office. I remember Scouts from his Troop being dismissive of his behavior: “He always does that! He just cries a lot!” And I remember talking with him. 👥

Through his sniffles he explained to me how he was afraid of being away from home for so long. In fact, he was more worried about his parents and how they were back at home. He worried if they were truly okay with him being up at camp. 😰

I had never experienced a situation like this before with a Scout, let alone anyone. But he was looking to me for support. 🙌

I remember putting my arm around him and offering him a new perspective. I asked him to consider his parent’s point of view, that perhaps his parents didn’t actually want him worrying about them. 👀

“𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥’𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮? 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧?” 🙂

𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 💬

We had a conversation or two after that, but by Day 4 he had become a lot more comfortable being at camp. I saw him taking merit badges, talking with Scouts from his troop, and enjoying himself in camp activities. 🙂

I rarely spoke with him the rest of the week. But I was glad the situation with him had ended on a positive note. 💯

𝐈𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐭. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐈 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐫.

…A few weeks after his troop left camp, I was at the main office when I was notified I had new mail. Typically I was receiving mail that summer from my family in the form of care packages and handwritten letters telling me how they missed me. ❤️

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐄𝐯𝐚𝐧. 👤

He sent me a handwritten letter thanking me for helping him that week. And along with the letter he enclosed a photo taken of us during a camp activity. 📷

I read the letter multiple times, unexpected tears filling me up with gratitude. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐈 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭. 🙌

This happened over 10 years ago. Not many people know this story. Not many people know about Evan. And not many people know about the impact they can have on others.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. ❤️

His letter and photo now sit in a scrapbook atop my closet shelf, and I don’t plan on ever getting rid of it. While I worked at camp for another 5 summers, I never saw Evan again.

I don’t where he is or how he’s doing or if he even remembers writing this letter, but what I do know is that this moment left a solid mark on my heart. ❤️

——-

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Why Opinions DON’T Matter!

June 21, 2021August 6, 2021 ~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

An opinion is worth a dime a dozen. 💲

Everybody has them, good and bad, and now more than ever opinions can be shared instantaneously! 💻

Think about it: 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 💨

If you wanted to write an opinion to a newspaper article, there was no guarantee your comment would even be featured in the newspaper. These days we can easily see them all in online comment sections. 📰

If you wanted to write an inflammatory message to someone, you’d have to get out a pen, paper, envelope, and stamp. You’d have to write it, and then drive to the post office to mail it. 📮

The beauty of this was you’d have plenty of time to think twice before you sent a message you may later regret. Online you can send it instantly and never look back. 🖱️

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: “𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧!” ⚖️

Again, opinions aren’t “good” or “bad”. Some are and some aren’t. Some are constructive but many, if not most, tend to be destructive. 🗣️

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐨! 🙋‍♂️

Read many of my posts and you’ll see I have many, so this is not about pointing fingers here! Just take a look at the first sentence in this post! 😂

It’s not about blaming social media or the internet for opinions. They’re both tools, and any tool can be used for better or for worse. With every advancement in technology will always come a new set of problems to consider. This just happens to be one of them that we’re still figuring out solutions for. 👍

So what is 1 solution to these excessive opinions? Like the beautiful quote by Paulo Coelho says below:

𝐁𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐒𝐀𝐘 𝐢𝐭; 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐁𝐄 𝐢𝐭. 👤

——-

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Why Our Inner REBEL Matters!

June 14, 2021September 12, 2021 ~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

🤬 𝐈 𝐃𝐎𝐍’𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐎! 🤬

When someone tells me to do something, the first question I often think is: “Why?!” ⁉️

The inner rebel in me instinctively takes over in defense. 🛡️

“𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏?!” 😡

“𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆?!” 😡

“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑴𝑬 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐?!” 😡

In a desire to assert my power, I’m quick to assume the worst intentions of the other person. In an instant, I’m ready to protect my desire to be free from the chains which possibly await me. ✊

Can you relate? ⬇️

👍 You don’t like being told what to do unless you feel respect for the other person?

👍 You don’t like being told what to do unless you feel you can trust the other person?

👍 You don’t like being told what to do unless you feel the other person treats you like a human being and not like an object?

If so, you’re not alone! I have felt the same way! 🙋‍♂️

But fortunately, these feelings of rebellion tend to be temporary. 🙂

Typically after a moment of self-restraint and introspection my emotions fall back on solid ground. 🙌

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 👤

I know he’s just doing his job to protect me from perceived threats. Like any natural instincts we have (Fight, Flight, and Freeze), they’re all just here to help us survive. If we didn’t have them, we wouldn’t be alive for very long! 😅

In other words: 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐇𝐞’𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲.

But what happens when our inner rebel doesn’t go away? What happens when he overstays his welcome and takes control over everything we do? 👿

When untamed, how does our inner rebel handle situations he’s faced with? ⁉️

🤬 Perhaps he responds with cynicism.

🤬 Perhaps he responds with resentment.

🤬 Perhaps he responds with hostility or even violence.

Because if I know how stubborn my inner rebel is when being told what to do, I can’t imagine how hard it is for someone else dealing with an inner rebel they aren’t even aware of! 😬

But here’s the thing…𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨! 👍

Hear me out! 🛑

I’m NOT justifying violence. I’m NOT justifying people acting upon their inner rebels like this either. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 😨

A LOT has happened in the past year. We’ve all been experiencing a level of uncertainty and discomfort most of us would never think we’d become accustomed to. 💯

Not only have we experienced the effects of a global pandemic, something most of us have never experienced in our lifetime, it’s also happened during a time when our country has never been more politically divided (https://pewrsr.ch/3v9o6uK)! ⚔️

What should’ve been a moment in our country’s history to come together and fight this virus instead became a breeding ground for hysteria, denialism, and hypocrisy. What should’ve been a moment where effective leadership and cooperation in the highest positions of government was needed the most did not appear. 😔

So I get it. ❤️

THESE are just some of the reasons why I can’t blame people’s inner rebels for coming out of the woodwork lately and feeling the way they do.

⚠️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬; 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩.

⚠️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬; 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲.

⚠️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 “𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲”; 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭.

To clarify, I am NOT placing all the blame on authority figures. I am NOT saying we as individual citizens don’t also have a responsibility for the choices we make. And I am NOT denying that misinformation, conspiracy theories, and scientific illiteracy hasn’t made it much more difficult for those in authority to communicate with the general public. It certainly has. 💯

🚨 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐲𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧: “𝐀 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥.” 🚨

My point is: your inner rebel is NOT crazy for feeling the way he feels! 🙌

It’s because I know my own inner rebel that I know shame, condescension, and ridicule from others isn’t going to settle him down. In fact, 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

🤬 𝐈 𝐃𝐎𝐍’𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐎! 🤬

🤬 “RIGHT ON, DONALD! MY IMMUNE SYSTEM DOESN’T NEED ANY VACCINE!” 🤬

Well, actually…⬇️

Let’s take the example of a car. A car has a body and a set of car parts inside the body that makes it function. Indeed, the car has a greater chance of lasting longer the more maintenance that’s done on it like oil changes, rotating tires, and replacing brake pads. 🚗

But just because the car is in great shape doesn’t mean the car is completely immune from the environment. It may have a better chance of survival hitting a small animal, but there’s no guarantee the car’s going to survive hitting a tree head-on! 💥

Now, take this analogy and think of us. We each have a body and a set of parts inside our body that makes it function. Indeed, we have a greater chance of living longer the more maintenance we do on our bodies like eating healthy, exercising, and getting enough sleep. 😴

But just because our body is in great shape doesn’t mean our body is completely immune from the environment (or our genetics). It may have a better chance of survival with the common cold, but there’s no guarantee our body is going to survive being exposed to smallpox. 🤒

In other words: 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐚, as much as I’d not like to tell you this. 😔

There are MANY infectious diseases in the world which our immune systems are not sufficient to save our lives from, no matter how healthy we eat, how much we exercise, and how much positive thinking we do. 🙌

Don’t get me wrong, it can definitely help, but to assume our immune system works as a cure-all mechanism for everything lacks a bigger perspective. 🌎

💉 For those of us who have had the privilege to never experience or die from smallpox, an infectious disease where you would have lesions of blisters and puss all over your body…we can thank vaccines for that.

💉 For those of us who have had the privilege to never experience or die from polio, an infectious disease which could render you paralyzed (Franklin Roosevelt being one of them)…we can thank vaccines for that.

💉 For those of us who have had the privilege to never experience or die from diphtheria, where gray matter covered up the back of your throat and your lymph nodes swelled up making it hard to breathe…we can thank vaccines for that.

And what do all these infectious diseases have in common? ⬇️

They are very contagious. 👥

They can spread through airborne particles and droplets. 💦

And they have been practically eliminated in the US thanks to mass vaccination efforts. 🎉

The fact is, infectious diseases are NOT new to human history; 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬. 🙋‍♂️🙋

The fact is, anti-maskers are NOT new to human history either (e.g. Anti-Mask League of San Francisco during the 1918 pandemic); 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬. 🙋‍♂️🙋

And the less we remember about our history, the more likely we are to repeat it. ⌛

So if you’ve never heard of these diseases, I’m not surprised.

🚨 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥. 𝐈𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 “𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐞” 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲.

𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞.

𝐓𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐬. 🚨

Again, I’m NOT saying there aren’t legitimate reasons for why people are hesitant to vaccinate. As I noted earlier, there’s been a multitude of problems which have exacerbated this issue, not the least of which has included authority figures. 👍

But on the flip side (and I’m going to be frank):

⚠️ 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞’𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬.

⚠️ 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.

⚠️ 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞.

𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲.

🌟 𝙇𝙞𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙤𝙨. 🌟

And for any of my friends reading this post whose inner rebel has come to the surface I can assure you…

I’m not here to tell you what to do. I’m not here to point a finger at you and say: “Shame!” All I’m sharing here is just a second opinion you are welcome to take and leave as much as you please. 😊

😡 “DONALD! WHAT’S YOUR POINT WITH ALL THIS?!” 😡

The whole point with me writing all this was to say: 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝. 🙂

🙌 𝙄𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙊𝙍 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧; 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧. 🙌

To provide one of my favorite phrases: Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.

👮 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.

👩‍⚕️ 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞.

👤 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝.

So, it is with this nuanced perspective in mind that I did my own research, looked at the scientific studies with my own eyes, and came to the conclusions that I did around the COVID-19 vaccines. 👀

Because let me tell you: 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴! 💯

And best part is, I didn’t come to this conclusion because I blindly listened to some authority figures. 👤

I won’t! ❌

Why? Because we all need healthy skepticism in our lives. Because we all need to be open to multiple perspectives. 😁

Because, just like you…

🤬 𝐈 𝐃𝐎𝐍’𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐎! 🤬

So I made the choice on my own! ❤️

“𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.”

~ Martin Luther King Jr. 💬

——-

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Why Mental Health MATTERS!

May 1, 2021August 6, 2021 ~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

📅 MAY IS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH! 📅

For my well-being as a whole, I’d say I’m a pretty optimistic person with dashes of realism. 😎

But for the Intellectual in me, I’m more of a pessimistic optimist. ⁉️

To clarify: I prepare for the worst, and I hope for the best! 😅

As we’ve entered a new decade, I am pleasantly surprised to look out at our society and see how far we’ve come.

💧 We have water we didn’t have to filter! 💧

🛣️ We drive on streets we didn’t have to pave! 🛣️

📚 And we read books we didn’t have to write! 📚

🎶 We listen to music we didn’t have to produce! 🎶

💊 We use medicines we didn’t have to create! 💊

🙏 And we have so many things we can be grateful for! 🙏

🤬 “DONALD, DON’T BE NAIVE! WHAT ABOUT…?!” 🤬

Of course! The history of our humanity hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, no doubt! 🌈

Big shifts in our world included mass plagues, wars, and violent revolutions, things most of us have never had to experience in our lives! 👍

I agree with you; there’s no point in denying the dark points in history! 💯

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁 “𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁” 𝗮𝘀 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱. ✍️

But, in spite of all that, in spite of all the negatives I could tell you about in history, we as humans have nevertheless continued to move forward. Consider this: we have not yet allowed ignorance to completely destroy us and our neighbors to oblivion! 😊

Looking at our current society, from modern agriculture to medicine to artificial intelligence, I see us continuing to make great strides forward in science and technology! 🤖

To give you one stunning fact: the average life expectancy in the past century has gone up from age 30 to 70! 😱

🤬 “DONALD! HELLO?! COVID-19!” 🤬

Of course! We’re all currently going through a crisis right now with the COVID-19 pandemic. And indeed, there’s a ton of things I can tell you I feel very concerned about during this time. 💯

I could tell you about my concerns for loved ones who are very susceptible to this virus. I could tell you about my concerns for those who think the virus is a downright hoax. I could especially tell you about my concerns of mental health and the impact our lockdowns have had on it. 😨

…and speaking of which, that’s why I share this post with you today! 🙌

In honor of May being Mental Health Awareness Month, my hope in sharing this post is we continue expanding our understanding of mental health and focusing on long-term solutions to improve it. ❤️

❤️ 𝑾𝑬’𝑹𝑬 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺!!! ❤️

While I personally can acknowledge the progress above and am grateful to be living in this day and age, I’ve noticed many people, even before COVID started, are more pessimistic and cynical than ever! ⁉️

Factually, we’ve come so far as a civilization. But for many people emotionally, it doesn’t “feel” like it has. 😨

Why is that?! If we live in such affluent times with more resources than ever for us to be happy, why are so many still unhappy?! ⁉️

If so many of us have more than our basic needs for food, water, and shelter, why have we seen suicide rates rise?! 😱

Yeah! 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟗 𝐭𝐨 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬! (Source: https://bit.ly/3eCcMkJ) 📈

🌺 How, if there’s so many flowers in our gardens, do we still feel like we’re missing something? 🌺

Are we just so ungrateful that we can’t see what’s right in front of us? 🤔

Are we just not reminded enough about the facts and how great we have it compared to our ancestors? 🗣️

Are we just simply more open these days about our emotions, hence the increase in depression and anxiety diagnoses? 📄

I think these answers may be part of it, but I also think it’s multifaceted. So if you are looking for a simple answer to these questions, you’ve come to the wrong post! 😅

But while I don’t have all the answers, I will propose at least one big contribution I believe our society greatly neglects. 👥

To explain, I’m reminded of the words of Palmer Joss in the 1997 film “Contact”: 🎬

“𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆? 𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚? 🤔

𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒑 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒃. 𝑨𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒘𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒓, 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚. 𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 💨

𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈? 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒋𝒐𝒃𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒗𝒂𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 𝑫𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔. 𝑰𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏?” 🧭

The words of Palmer Joss also remind me of the words from Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl: “Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for.” ✍️

I want you to read Frankl’s words again but slower:

➡️ “𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿.” ⬅️

🌺 We have many flowers in our garden. But we have little meaning to WHY these flowers matter. We’re told to appreciate them, but we don’t understand WHY we should. 🌺

❤️ 𝑾𝑬’𝑹𝑬 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺!!! ❤️

The problem I see happening is:

We’re mastering Quantity at the expense of Quality. ⚖️

We’re mastering the Objective at the expense of the Subjective. ⚖️

And we’re mastering Intelligence at the expense of Emotional Intelligence. ⚖️

We’re mastering our Outer Worlds at the expense of our Inner Worlds. ⚖️

We’re mastering what we Want at the expense of what we Need. ⚖️

And we’re feeding our Heads at the expense of our Hearts. ⚖️

Or to use the Hopi word: Koyaanisqatsi, which means “life out of balance”. ☯️

I see no better time than this day and age we live in for more and more people to be experiencing an existential crisis, a serious contemplation on whether one’s life has any purpose or meaning. 🤷‍♂️

I can tell you from personal experience, having an existential crisis is VERY unpleasant! And sadly, I know some individuals who didn’t make it out of them alive. 🕳️

In a world filled with paradoxes and contradictions, a world we’re told has absolute truth yet contradicting ideas keep filling us with doubt, a world which at times seems pretty absurd, what is a person supposed to believe anymore?! 🤯

Think about it: If everything you were once told to believe and embrace about life was irredeemably challenged, and the ideals you once stood for were now reduced to a pile of rubble, what is the next rational step for a person to take? 🙉

It’s why I can’t blame someone who has had these life experiences and has become so cynical because of it. As George Carlin put it: “𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘺𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵.” 🎭

But let me assure you: 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐲𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐢𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. ❤️

❤️ 𝑾𝑬’𝑹𝑬 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺!!! ❤️

I believe Johann Hari said it best when he said our society is great at doing many things, like the things I mentioned above with science and technology. 👍

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲’𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗽𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀. 😨

We all need to feel like we belong in this world, the need to feel like our lives have purpose and meaning, the need to feel like we are seen and appreciated by others, the need to feel like we have a compelling future to look forward to. You could even call these “the needs of the soul”. ❤️

And yet, how many people right now are actually getting these needs met? 💔

How many people are instead just being told to “be happy” or being told to just remember “how great our country is”? 💔

🌺 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀. 🌺

And when you understand the problem in this way, it seems more than reasonable to me that we can’t just keep telling ourselves the story that Depression and Anxiety are only caused by a lack of brain chemicals. 😱

Perhaps our emotions have been messengers trying to tell us something important. 📬

Perhaps our emotions have been signaling to us the way we’re living is making us ill. 😫

Perhaps we’re living in an environment which magnifies, reinforces, and exacerbates our psychological problems. 😱

To clarify, I’m NOT claiming any conspiracies here. I’m also NOT saying any of this is being done intentionally. What I am saying is that this may be the long-term result of a society which continues to turn off the alarm bells when the alarm bells keep going off for legitimate reasons. ⌛

We’ve been so focused on external factors to “fix” these alarm bells, whether it was through drugs, alcohol, food, or needless distractions that we’re in the collective habit of inadvertently killing the messenger! 💊

❤️ 𝑾𝑬’𝑹𝑬 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺!!! ❤️

I’ve talked in the past about being very passionate about advocating what I call “the psychological development of the individual”.

⬆️ 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆! ⬆️

THIS is the reason I’m so passionate about it. It’s why I’ve surrounded myself in the field of Personal Development. It’s why I’m such a fan of philosophy. It’s why I’m such a supporter of Tony Robbins’s work. 💯

𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲’𝘀 𝗽𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗜’𝗺 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 😔

Compared to where we were a few decades ago, we’re now living in a much more complex world. We’re no longer going to be able to solve these complex problems with the same simplistic thinking which created them. 👍

So what I’m advocating for is developing our Emotional Intelligence, developing our Cognitive skills, and encouraging the Psychological Development of the Individual. 💯

We’ve assumed for too long these skills would simply develop naturally with little effort. But again, look at where many people are now. 😔

It’s important I emphasize: ⛔ I’m NOT saying to start neglecting or throwing out what science and technology has to offer! Not at all! ⛔

I’m not saying we need to choose one OR the other; 𝗜’𝗺 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿. ☯️

As science and technology moves forward with greater complexity, I want to ensure we as individuals move forward too, with a more complex understanding of “knowing thyself”. 😊

But what will this require?

🌟 We need to appoint and elect more leaders of integrity, of emotional intelligence, who build trust in leading through their example; that’s how we decrease cynicism.

🌟 We need to create meaning where there’s meaninglessness to be found in people’s lives; that’s how we decrease nihilism.

🌟 We need to teach people HOW to think and not WHAT to think; that’s how we develop cognitive and critical thinking skills.

🌟 We need to develop self awareness, to challenge our black-and-white thinking, and learn how to communicate civilly with those we disagree with; that’s how we develop empathy.

🌟 We need to learn to compromise, to promote societal order, to re-establish moral standards and mutually agreed upon truths; that’s how we decrease anomie.

And I won’t be so naive as to think implementing these ideas will be easy, that they will be some quick fixes, that people will be so easily convinced they are necessary endeavors. ✅

I know that me just saying this here doesn’t mean people are going to take any action to do these things. But at the very least, I hope I planted some seeds in people’s minds to think about. ✅

These initiatives will require many more people to step forward and be a part of the change. This is not meant to be like some political statement; it’s just something I’ve been passionate about sharing for a while. I now have the words finally written out! 😁

🚨 Because I don’t want to keep seeing people needlessly suffer! 🚨

❤️ 𝑾𝑬’𝑹𝑬 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺!!! ❤️

These ideas I share with you now are NOT EVEN MY IDEAS! They are not original! These ideas have been around a very long time! 😲

The problem is we’ve either forgotten how important these ideas are or we were simply never introduced to them in the first place. And if you have never before, consider yourself introduced now! 😅

You won’t learn these ideas browsing social media posts, I can guarantee you that! 😉

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. 🎮

I can assure you: there’s a profound sense of humility which comes when you realize how little you know, how far we can all expand our understandings of the world, if we all make the conscious choice to. ❤️

I’ll leave you with wisdom from the philosopher Bertrand Russell. When asked what advice he’d give to future generations, he said this in 1959: 🗣️

💬 “𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒆; 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉. 𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒚.

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒕.” 💬

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