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Originally Posted by Sometimes psychotic
I feel like I should clarify....so for example I go grocery shopping early in the morning I avoid the crowds and don’t see people with kids...so I avoid the kids yelling or the parents yelling at the kids.
I don’t watch the local news, instead I read the news so I can be selective to the good.
My Instagram is filled with flowers, birds and trees.
If you avoid the most negative things it’s a lot easier to be positive about people.
If you see all of the darkness it’s very hard to remain positive.
I think I’m also helped by having kind of a meh memory, I have a tendency to forget stuff after six months or so I have my photos to remember by and that’s already selective.
Another alternative is the meditation of a tree dropping leaves in the river. As each leaf drops you see it flowing gently downstream. Attach each thought you have to a leaf and watch it flow gently downstream. The goal is to passively watch your thoughts float away. You don’t judge whether they are negative or positive just watch them pass by, it’s very zen and you can apply it to any thought you’re having. It doesn’t magically spiral you into the positive but it takes the negative into neutral territory.
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Okay, I get all this and I do this, much of the time. I use a kind of Buddhist, non-attachment type approach.
So, great. But what about the moral imperative not to stand by idly while clearly evil actions occur? For example, had the United States not entered the war against both Germany and Japan, respectively and for very different reasons, well, far, far, far more evil and suffering would have befallen planet earth and its inhabitants. Had I been around then and elected not to involve myself because it caused me stress and discomfort and pain and unhappiness, well, I do not believe that would have been the right choice in the grand scheme of the universe.
So, what I am saying is that, just for myself, totally focusing on my own mental health well-being may not actually always be the morally correct decision. Which I find quite difficult. Sometimes, pain is required in order to do the right thing. Child birth and child rearing are painful, often, but we don't abandon our kids when they are misbehaving, because that would be wrong. Doing 7 years of brutal residency was extremely painful, but it had to be done in order to save lives that otherwise would likely have been lost. Etc.