Mental Health
Five Uplifting Actions to Take When You’re Feeling Down or Frustrated With the World
Be the change the world needs
The recent UK riots have been unprecedented. It’s not surprising since the world has seen through Brexit that not everyone in the UK is happy with where their world is headed towards.
As I watched more and more riots unravelling, businesses around the UK and Ireland destroyed, and small business owners losing their livelihoods, I can’t help but wonder why people are so angry.
It seems like there are a lot of angry people in the world these days.
This reminds me of something a friend once said, “Everyone is so angry these days because everybody is so stingy. They are stingy with their knowledge, their time, their love, and their money.” I used to think that only she and I felt this way, but now I’m starting to realize that many people share this sentiment.
Even though we are now globally connected, we have somehow created a silo for ourselves. As a global society, we have become less tolerant of each other. We no longer seek a middle ground to compromise.
This shift in our collective mindset is particularly troubling to me, as it contrasts sharply with the values I grew up with.
Growing up Catholic, the story of the good Samaritan had been ingrained in me. I have lived my entire life believing that we should do our best to help others when we can, no matter how big or small it may be. I had always thought that this belief was shared by many globally.
It seems, however, these days, the story of the Good Samaritan has been lost in people’s minds. Seeing how one of the most advanced and prosperous countries in the world going up in flames with riots, looting, and vandalism, I’m starting to see where my friend was coming from. Everybody feels alone. Everybody feels misunderstood and unloved.
This sentiment reminded me of Princess Diana once said, “I think the biggest disease the world suffers from in this day and age is the disease of people feeling unloved.” Watching the UK, and Ireland going up in flames has put things in perspective for me and so many people around the world.
Some people may see these riots as happening due to racism, bigotry, or fear-mongering by politicians. However, I see these riots as a reflection of how people truly feel on the inside. They go beyond just racism; they are an outpouring of people feeling scared, unloved, and alone in a world of uncertainty.
It’s easy to feel isolated and frightened, as if we’re going down a rabbit hole. This seems to be a common feeling these days. It appears that we can’t count on anyone to lend a helping hand anymore — not our siblings, our family, and especially not the people or the company we work for.
I think the biggest disease the world suffers from in this day and age is the disease of people feeling unloved
— Lady Diana Spencer
If you are witnessing the world evolving into a darker and more sinister place and you are apprehensive about the uncertain future ahead, remember that you hold the power to transform both your surroundings and yourself.
Start with these six uplifting actions that will help move your needle forward:
Have A Good Laugh
When was the last time you had a good laugh?
I mean a really hearty laugh that made you tear up and your stomach hurts. Odds are it has been a while.
I recently realized that I hadn’t had a good laugh in the last few weeks.
I grew up in the golden era of network television. Finding a laugh wasn’t hard. There was something that would bring a smile to our faces every night. It was easy, just turn on the TV between 7–9 pm on a weekday, and there is sure to be a TV show that would bring a smile to your face.
But today’s content is, for lack of a better word, a mess. Every show needs to have over-sexualization, political or woke messaging, reality TV flaunting wealth, or endless competition shows pitting one person against another.
In addition, every piece of content on social media is either flaunting a haul of something, reminding us that we need another item in our lives, or an advertisement for a new product. Real, wholesome laughter has become a rare gem these days.
It’s no surprise that the US Surgeon General shared that we are currently living in the middle of a mental health crisis.
After realizing that I hadn’t laughed in weeks, I thought about some of the great network TV shows that I looked forward to each week and brought joy into my life, such as Step by Step, Growing Pains, Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Mad About You, My Two Dads, Mr. Belvedere, Who’s the Boss, Frasier, and Murphy Brown.
These shows followed a formula and were written by professional writers who were paid by network television. They had a steady income to create memorable moments and bring laughter.
However, nowadays, professional show writers are becoming a thing of the past. How can writers create when they are constantly worrying about their next pay check and looking for the next side gig?
The “gig economy” that we live in has made everyone, especially creatives, scramble for work. It’s hard to create laughter when you’re worried about where your next pay check is coming from.
Furthermore, the demand for “reality TV” has brought us to the point where the audience no longer watches scripted network television but prefers to watch content creators on their social media. People are now spending most of their free time watching curated content a.k.a ads.
If you’re still wondering why people are angry, this is why.
It’s hard to have a good laugh when all the content we watch shows us what we are missing out on, what we should be doing better, and how others are doing it.
Before the rise of social media, it was easy to integrate wholesome laughter into our daily lives. If you need to incorporate more laughter in your life, I suggest starting by watching the old network sitcoms tv shows, they were a big hit for a reason.
Occupy Yourself
Have you ever heard the saying, ‘Idle hands are the devil’s plaything’? It reminds us of the importance of keeping busy with meaningful activities.
Watching the protests in the UK and Ireland recently, I couldn’t help but think about the role of work and how it shapes our lives. Watching the many people in the UK and Ireland protesting made me wonder “Don’t these people have jobs?”
The riots started on 30 July, a Tuesday, during work hours. Shouldn’t the rioters be at work? If they can take time off work to riot, what are they doing in their spare time?
For many, work provides not just a livelihood but also a sense of purpose and direction. It offers a way to contribute to society, expand our horizons, and stay engaged with the world around us.
A wise woman once told me that no matter how we feel or what challenges we face, work can be a powerful tool to help us progress in life. By staying productive, we can avoid negative distractions and find fulfilment in our daily routines.
Hobbies, too, can be seen as a form of productive work, offering a creative outlet and a way to keep our hands and minds occupied in positive ways.
Whether you like to sing, dance, rock climb or cook, there is a hobby and activity which will help you clear your mind and infuse positivity into you.
Hobbies are also another way for us to be in touch with our inner child. We spend nearly all of our waking lives adulting, we need to also have fun in life. Perhaps this is why so many of us are so angry.
When we were kids, the world was a place of magic and wonders. Anything can happen, and we could dream of being anyone. The world was filled with hope.
Let’s return to simpler times and be kind to ourselves.
And maybe instead of lashing out at the world, we can see once again all the beauty and wonders that it has.
Where is Your Focus?
In the 80s and 90s, it was easy for my generation to be inspired. Whether you looked up to Princess Diana, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, or Steve Irwin there was somebody you could look up to.
But today it’s getting harder for people to be inspired.
It is harder to feel inspired and hopeful in our social media-filled world than in the days of analog television.
Today, inspiration doesn’t come cheap. Nobody wants to inspire without getting a payday. Everyone wants their viral video and 15 minutes of fame.
Gone are the days of people doing things based on their passion and conviction. In our society today, every action that gets amplified and reaches the public has to either increase the creator’s follower count or collect ad revenues.
Unlike the 9 o’clock news that older generations grew up with, today’s media landscape offers us a more fragmented view of the world. Instead of a broad spectrum of stories and facts, we often receive information tailored to our personal beliefs and interests — whether it’s factual or not.
With voices from millions of people at our fingertips, we’re constantly bombarded with opinions, regardless of the speaker’s expertise or the validity of their views. In this environment, it’s easy to get caught up in our own realities and forget the importance of dreaming and storytelling. Stories are what keep us connected, inspired, and alive.
What happens when a person lives in reality 24/7 with no hope or dream in sight? They either wither away, or they become angry.
This is why we need to be mindful of where we keep our focus.
The first thing we need to do is stop looking at social media. It’s not healthy for us to focus on the entire world and have unending content bombarded to us 24/7.
What you focus on and give your attention to will grow. If you fixate on the turmoil and negativity in the world, that will shape your reality.
Instead, choose to focus on what brings you joy and beauty. Play some classical music, pick up that book you’ve been meaning to read, visit an art museum, or simply take a walk in the park. There are countless ways to appreciate the beauty in this world — we just need to take the first step.
Secondly, focus on what you can do today to make a better tomorrow.
If you feel that the space your is too grey and gloomy, get a plant or two and start cultivating a few plants in your house to refresh it. If environmental pollution is what keeps you up at night, try making more meals from scratch and not purchasing ready-made food in plastic packaging.
Everything in life is a matter of perspective. Whether the glass is half full or half empty, is up to us.
Knowing where to put our focus, makes all the difference.
Live in the present
When UK rioters hold up signs and chant, ‘We want our country back,’ it’s not the country they truly long for — it’s the way of life they once had.
Many of us who are past our twenties or thirties often look back on our youth and think, ‘Those were the best years of our lives.’ Youth has a way of making us believe that simply because we were young, life was better.
But what happens when we convince ourselves that our best days are behind us and fear the future? We stop living in the present.
“The past is already gone, the future is not yet here. There’s only one moment for you to live, and that is the present moment”
— Buddha
This is a mistake many of us make. We often dwell on the past, thinking, ‘Woulda, coulda, shoulda,’ or we worry about the future: ‘What will happen tomorrow? Will my spouse ask for a separation? Will I lose my job due to redundancy? Will my health decline?’
The intense emotions we see today didn’t emerge overnight. The anger that fuelled the UK rioters and led to looting had been simmering for a long time. It could have been triggered by various factors, such as the decline of the NHS or the impact of Brexit, which resulted in a lack of variety of goods in the UK.
Whatever the cause, anger and fury often stem from a place of hopelessness. Rather than dwelling on past glories and feeling hopeless, we can shift our focus to the present.
Since no one knows what tomorrow will bring, it’s even more important to live in the moment.
By doing our best today, we lay the foundation for a better tomorrow.
Live Like You Were Dying
One of my all-time favorite singers, Tim McGraw, has a song called Live Like You Were Dying.
In the song, he tells the story of a man in his forties who learns he is terminally ill and how that revelation changes his life. The man shares that he began living life to the fullest, doing things he had always put off, like skydiving, and becoming a kinder, more compassionate person.
I often think about this song when I encounter people who are selfish, greedy, rude, uncaring with no empathy.
Why do many of us wait till we are diagnosed with a terminal illness before we become a better, kinder, and more sympathetic person willing to help those who need help?
I remember a friend of mine, early on in my career, when I found out I was about to be a single mother, I had asked him for help to find a better work opportunity.
In Asia, getting the right opportunity, especially in a lucrative one, such as in the oil and gas sector, is challenging if we don’t have the right people to help open doors for us.
He knew that the main reason I asked for his help was because I needed to provide for my child as head of the family. He had been in the oil and gas field for several years and had an extensive network across the country and around the world.
I asked if he could help ask his network if there was a vacancy that suited my profile. The answer he gave me, was curt and short, “Go look in the wanted ads in the paper.”
I often think about that moment.
I didn’t ask him for money, food, or anything that would take resources away from his family or children. All I sought was a little help to ease the rough path I was on.
In hindsight, I’m grateful for how he responded. If that man hadn’t been curt, cold, and dismissive — belittling the struggles of a single mother in need — I might never have become the person I am today: the exact opposite of him.
I learned something that day. I learned that kindness is free. That compassion makes the world go round and that empathy matters.
Since then, I have tried my best to stay true to the saying, “Tomorrow is not promised.” I strive to live each day to the fullest and as meaningfully as possible.
Over the years, I’ve made it a priority to live in the present. I firmly believe that if we were called to face our creator at a moment’s notice, we wouldn’t want our last words to be something as indifferent as ‘Go look in the wanted ads.’ Instead, we should aim to make a difference, impact lives, and leave the world a kinder place than we found it.
At the end of the day, it comes down to how we want people to remember us and what type of legacy we want to leave behind.
Do we want to be known as the person looting stores while screaming “We want our country back?” or the man that says to a single mother looking for work to feed her baby “Go read the wanted ads in the paper.”
Or do we want to be remembered as the person who helped as many people as they could and lived a life filled with grace, generosity, and empathy which helped brighten other people’s lives?
Life is filled with choices.
Do we choose to live in the moment, carefree and careless? Or do we want to live like we are dying, knowing tomorrow is not promised and living our days filled with kindness and compassion?
The choice is up to us. Let’s choose wisely.
The world feels dark right now, with wars erupting, rising racism, and economic inflation impacting us all.
But that doesn’t mean that we have to live in the darkness that others have created for us. We can step out of the shadows and be the light that we need for ourselves. Furthermore, we can also enlighten the path of those around us.
The choice lies with us. We have the power to break free from feeling down, hopeless and frustrated.
Nothing is given and everything is a choice.
What do you choose?
