Easy Does It

Pixabay

Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? Snow White is a fairy tale I have been thinking of as of late… do you know who the seven dwarves are? Sneezy, Dopey, Doc, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, and Bashful. I also remember fondly a cartoon when I was a child that I watched regularly call The Smurfs. They were like three apples tall, and they were all boys except for Smurfette. They were constantly getting into trouble and there was a character named Gargamel who was their arch-nemesis and sought to capture and use the Smurfs for his evil schemes. He had a cat named Azrael. “Gargamel's cat is named Azrael. In The Smurfs, Azrael is a key character who often assists Gargamel in his attempts to capture the Smurfs.” - Google AI Overview. I have many happy memories of Saturday morning cartoons with my best friend. Her father would usually cook an awesome breakfast of waffles or pancakes. The Smurfs were definitely one of our faves.

I need a little lightness and happiness in my life right now, how about you? Times are really tough for a lot of people, and housing and food are in major shortage here in the USA. We also are struggling with a drug epidemic, and still fighting the effects of Covid, either in grieving those we have lost, or surviving long Covid and other complications from the virus. Nothing feels safe right now. There is mass mania and road rage, and we as a community in this country are really suffering. The weather is atrocious, unless you live in the Pacific Northwest. No one knows why we keep escaping the wrath of God, but we manage it somehow. Mental Illness, as I have said before, is at the top of the agenda in my opinion, along with human rights. I don’t know how we got here, but it must be because of crazy people, right? Wrong. It is because we have made a series of bad choices. So how do we get out of this global mess? I believe prayer can help. Spirituality is the antithesis of addiction. Those that suffer with eating disorders, myself included, are in a spiritual crisis. Those who struggle with alcoholism and drug addiction are also in a spiritual crisis. We need God, and we need to avoid hate. I choose to love my country, the weather, myself and even the President of the United States. Because if I don’t, hate wins.

So practice some light-heartedness, acceptance, and love today. Don’t take your rage out on the road, and don’t shop compulsively. Mania leads to depression, or is the antithesis of depression. But if we lean too far into compulsive shopping, we end up in a lot of trouble and then we are just sadder than we were to begin with. Material objects are not happiness. Love, acceptance, and allowing yourself some space to breathe is how we find contentment. It is only once we find our inner serenity that we can then make good, positive, and helpful choices. Please take care of yourself today, put your oxygen mask on before helping others, and rest. Don’t let the symptoms of this global and national disease overtake you. Easy does it. Easy does it.