A Shift in the Winds of Discord5 min read

2021-07-26
Robert Middleton

There is no doubt about it. The year 2020 and first half 2021 have been traumatic to some degree for all of us.

Let me count the ways….

Coronavirus hits in early 2020.

People start to die from the virus by the thousands.

The president downplays the pandemic over and over again.

News and social media explode in all directions at once.

By the end of 2020, 335,800 people in the US had died from the virus. It’s now at 599,412.

The worst worldwide pandemic since the outbreak of the “Spanish Flu” 100 years ago.

With the rise of the virus, was the concurrent dramatic rise of alternate and conspiratorial “facts.”

Then the election, and a glimmer of hope for many.

Until… the opposition declared a stolen election.

The president never conceded. Still hasn’t.

This is unprecedented in our history, (just to be clear).

Conspiracy theories, each one nuttier than the other spread like wildfire.

Then, we have Jan 6. The shit-show at the Capitol.

More denials, more alternate facts, denialism, cult of personality, end-to-end absurd conspiracies.

Lots and lots of anger, hate, blame, and frankly… gobsmacking astonishment.

Has the world or our nation ever been this wild and gonzo?

Not in my lifetime. And I went thru Nixon and the Kardashians!

The whole country has experienced this national pandemic/political trauma month-after-month, day-after-day, for a year-and-a-half.

And now, we have the Covid Delta variant and the cases and deaths are rising once again.

So, really extreme stuff happening every day, in every state, county and city. Hard stuff. Tough stuff.

On the other hand…

Some Lights at the End of the Tunnel

Our new president seems to be serious about producing results without calling people he doesn’t like silly names.

We got the frikin’ vaccine. I got mine in Feb/March. Yay!

Mask-free and going to restaurants, movies, and entertainment at last.

Survived a raging forest fire in my area in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Worked with many wonderful amazing people in 3 intensive Marketing Action Groups over the past 18 months.

Launched the Fearless Marketing Mastermind Free Program this past month. Keep posted.

Heck, in this past week, hired an organizer for half a day and cleaned out my cluttered office. (Let go of a hundred plus of pounds of the past.)

And the best thing of all, has been walking our two fluffy white dogs in the local “Highlands Park” almost every day and meeting several people who have become fast friends.

I gave blood the first time in 40 years (yeah, I know!) that was organized by a fellow dog-walker, Ann.

I met another fellow dog-walker Peter, (husband of Ann) who shares my love of jazz and with whom I can finally jaw about my obsession, and who actually knows what the fuck I’m talking about.

I’m going to see his band on Sunday at a Farmer’s Market in Santa Cruz!

Finally, I watched the whole “Star Wars Rebels” series on Disney Plus.

It inspired me to realize that you can have fun while fighting evil!

So, lots of great things happening on a personal level.

I’ll bet that’s just as true for you as well, right? I hope so!

Don’t miss that. Don’t underestimate the importance of that.

What a Contrast

As the world and the country has been going to hell in a handbasket, burning in a dumpster fire, and exploding into a clusterfuck of a year and a half…..

In an alternate, personal reality…

Many, actually many millions of us are experiencing, bright, happy, expansive, fun, alive happenings in our lives.

We are getting good work done and moving important things forward.

We are making a profound difference in small and large ways.

We are not complaining and blaming and throwing rocks at others.

We are doing whatever we possibly can to make things work well, despite enormous challenges.

We owe a great deal of gratitude to frontline workers – in healthcare especially.

These are the people who have been putting their lives on the line.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to these people, in fact to everyone who has stepped up to make a difference.

We also need to acknowledge the medical miracle of the vaccine.

Really. No vaccine in history, that I know of, has been developed this quickly and has been so effective and safe.

We hope that everyone ultimately recognizes the safety and effectiveness of these vaccines.

Do your own honest research. Know the facts. Let’s end this.

It’s not necessarily going to get easier.

In fact, there are still very big things happening nationally and internationally that can and will impact countries and millions of people for the worse in the coming years.

You know what they are. You are informed. And you care.

What can you do?

Wake up and live here and now. I mean, what option is there?

Do your best. Try to make a difference where you can.

Lift things up instead of tearing them down.

Make things right instead of making others wrong.

Realize that the work you do right now and every day actually matters.

And try not to dwell obsessively on the past or future.

But, don’t be too hard on yourself.

When the challenges are big, we can respond resourcefully or fearfully.

Resourcefulness is making the best of everything we’ve got and positively leveraging the personal power that we wield.

Fearfulness tends to morph into blame, hate, anger, and violence.