by Jennifer K. Puebla

Don’t Let Trump And His Crazies Break You

I know many people, some of them are family members, that feel so much for others they have been in a constant state of outrage for the last several years.  I struggle with this myself.  This timeline is infuriating and gut wrenching.

I’ve said all along that one of the goals of the Trump administration and the evil that carried it to office is to exhaust us into complacency. They want us to quit. They never let up. Never rest in their launching of one shameful act after another. It is deliberate.  It is targeted. It is debilitating.  And at the top of the pyramid of evil is Donald Trump, himself, and his perpetual gaslighting. 

“When strong, avoid them. If of high morale, depress them. Seem humble to fill them with conceit. If at ease, exhaust them. If united, separate them. Attack their weaknesses. Emerge to their surprise.”
~ Sun Tzu

We must not let them succeed.

So how do we keep our morale and spirits up when facing an evil that wants to destroy us?
And they do want to destroy us. Never give in to thinking otherwise. These radicals want total domination. Anyone not with them is to be utterly squashed both by legislation and by force.

Rest, Recollect, Refresh

We must learn to step back for short periods of rest to recollect and refresh ourselves.
I’m not talking about quitting, as some have done, dropping out of the fight entirely and abdicating their responsibilities for the human race to those they leave in the battle, I’m just talking about time to let our spirits breathe.

And I know it can be hard to step back. SO hard.  But so very necessary.

During World War I, low morale was a huge problem among the troops and for those back home. Even though history was full of examples and lessons about the importance behind efforts to keep morale up, the few there were, just didn’t translate as well as they should have into the trenches and camps.

WWII showed vast improvements in the psychological care of troops in the field.

The USO was the largest coordinated boost to the Allied troop morale against the stress of war.  Local authorities also organized dances and parties wherever troops were gathered as well as opportunities for sports. Being able to receive letters and packages from home was a high priority. They learned from history. Troops had to keep their spirits up.

Napoleon said “An army’s effectiveness depends on its size, training, experience, and morale, and morale is worth more than any of the other factors combined.”  He was right.

Psychological bombardment

Today we are in a different kind of war. A war that is far less physical, for now, but I would argue more psychological given the constant barrages of propaganda and state sponsored disinformation from the people in positions of authority over us and their media mouth pieces.

In the examples of the past we can see that self-care, keeping our morale up, is necessary to be able to stay in the battle and not become a casualty of cynicism, anger, or fear. It is ammunition against feeling defeated and inadequate. A poultice to soothe against the hopelessness in a tired spirit.

One of the most important ways to combat this “mind-field” is by choosing carefully who you allow to influence you during this time and on whom you spend your energy.

If you have people in your life who refuse to be outraged at injustice, those who, because it happened to someone other, feel they have no time or effort to spend, please understand, these are toxic people.

At best they are smugly self absorbed. At worst they spread malignant apathy with their acceptance of evil deeds and evil men. 

They are the old goblin woman in the junk heap of Labyrinth and they will distract you from your purpose and silence your concern for others by trying to make you believe your own personal cares are all that matter. They may even try to convince you that you are the real victim, not those you are struggling for. 

Cut the toxic people loose

Likewise, distance yourself from those who hurt your soul. It’s very popular to say one shouldn’t end a friendship over a difference of opinion but often times those differences are fundamentally a disparity of morality, integrity, and character not philosophy.

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Your time and energy are precious. Unless you feel you may have influence with these people to affect change in their hearts don’t waste your resources.

Encourage those who fight beside you. Remember they may be one step away from burning out. Let them know they are heard and appreciated. We need to have each other’s backs

And don’t forget to play. However that may look for you. Play feeds our spirit. It reinvigorates our bodies and minds and reminds us what we are fighting for.

We weren’t created to withstand constant pressure. And we need to be careful how we recreate from it. For some, attempting to shut stress off like a light switch can lead to addictive behaviors or unhealthy and unsafe activities.

Decompress

Like a deep sea diver has to come up slowly and decompress in order not do more harm, you might need to slowly take moments away from the the fray we have been in for so long.

Take a short walk, spend an extra five minutes in the shower, listen to music and sway or just close your eyes, pet your dog (or cat or iguana…), do some small selfish deed each day. You can’t care for others properly if you are crippled and bleeding on the field.

We can’t let them break us. We can’t give up the fight. So “take the trash out”, as Social Media likes to say, make a cup of tea, pour a glass of wine, or pop open a beer, sit back for just a little while and breathe.

Make your own version of a USO show and Netflix and chill for an evening. LAUGH OUT LOUD and don’t feel guilty about it. It’s medicinal.

And when you can, gather your friends and celebrate each other and your efforts, make plans, debrief.
Hug, cry, laugh, dance, sing, and play.  Partake in the decent humanity you long to see everyone enjoy.

Live to fight another day.

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