So I have an appointment with my psychologist but I thought this might be a good thing to do in the meantime.
People are pissing me off, and when I’m alone, I’m getting pretty enraged. I’m really upset at the usual suspects; non-mask wearing Trump supporters.
I would never hurt anyone, unless it was self-defense. But I daydream. I do. And it’s not healthy. I punch the stuffing out of my couch. Yesterday I asked people on Facebook to send me cat pictures to help lighten me up.
I mean… My teeth are clenched. If my folks get Covid, I’ll be so mad. I’m obviously mad now. What are we going to do about these stupid, assholes who are deplorable. They’re disgusting and I daydream of purging them from Earth.
Once again… I’d never hurt anyone purposely unless provoked. Any advice? Anyone else in the same boat? I’m sick of idiots!!
It’s good to share, I hear ya.
A neighbor had a huge Trump flag flying and one dark night it disappeared. Ha! Just recently he hung another one but it’s much smaller and faded, with single sided graphics. He also hammered up a cctv camera and a warning sign. Pisses me off for some reason I want hack at the cable and torch that flag. And the brat on the water bike blasting music and doing his 360’s for an hour directly in front of MY house. He took a short break, all was quiet while he sat in his own churning fetid wake and I finally yelled or really I bellowed cupping my hands GO HOME ASSHOLE! GO HOME! Then I added LOVE KAREN.
My SO stared at me, Brat left the area, went back to his Airbnb. Snerk
To be honest, I tend to be suspicious of people who aren’t angry at Trump supporters and maskholes. I don’t want it to consume their day or cause them problems, of course. But there should be some anger around these issues, and not anger towards those people who get mad about it.
Obviously, if it’s overwhelming you, it’s good to get help. But don’t beat yourself up about being angry about things that should make you angry. I suspect that a lot of the help you will receive will be about channeling that anger into more productive use.
Not all of it, as you’ll also learn how to calm down, avoid bad habits that make it worse, etc. But anger is a feeling that evolved in humans for a reason–it helps motivate us to do things to try and fix or reduce the source of that anger.
Have you tried not giving a fuck? I was once like you, but then I decided to not give a fuck about shit that was out of my control. I ended up feeling a lot better.
Don’t get me wrong. I still miss going out, drinking at my favorite bars, and hanging out with my friends. Can’t do much about that right now.
So at dinner last night I mentioned the new flag in the neighborhood, and caught a gleam in Youngest daughter’s eyes that stopped me short. Intuitively I asked if she knew anything about the missing flag, she said “I might”.
This. Remember, TV news wants you to be angry and afraid all the time, because strong emotions are how they get you to watch (and also, because “a whole lot of people are quietly doing the right thing most of the time” isn’t news). So they’re going to show you the most rage-inducing images they can find, and then put the maximum spin on them.
O.P. may I suggest not paying for T.V. that bothers you?
I just have Netflix and HBO. If I wanna get pissed off and/or know what’s going on, I hafta go here, or Reddit, or else … not be pissed off.
But just turning on the T.V. does not subject me to more horror.
I know it’s a shitshow out there, and I stay on top of the big stuff. It’s not hard to staying informed. Hell, firing up Chrome on my phone, just to hang out with you fine fellas, brings up a dozen news links.
You can be informed, without subjecting yourself to a constant barrage of horrifying information.
It should be “I turn ON the TV every now and then.”
I’ve been forcing myself to only have it on in the evening, for PBS and old comedies. And I swear my blood pressure has gone down by half. I took a walk today and noticed a fluffy cloud shaped like Iceland. And smiled and thought “They can’t take this fluffy cloud away from us.”
I honestly don’t think I could’ve done that in my “non-stop news OF idiots FOR idiots” phase this summer…
Right-o on both pieces of advice.
No longer even own a TV. One of the smarter things I did. I do have my moments with Hulu and Netflix, but they are few and far between (I mean I gotta watch ‘Outlander’ and “”Brooklyn 99’ and “Longmire” once in a while, but weeks go by in between binges)
I figured out is was forming my moods and anxiety.
So…now I watch very little news. Local mostly.
I do watch TV. Movies and a few shows and specials.
I fully admit the COVID thing has had me turning to CNN a bit too much.
Thank goodness the kids are here. I know all the Disney movies. Yay me!!