So, I’ve been trying this thing lately... I’d say I’m naturally pretty optimistic. I look for the best in every situation, every person - sometimes to a fault. It’s not that I don’t feel the pain of the world - as an empath, I’m insanely sensitive to it - but since that can be too much sometimes, my go-to is to direct focus in a different direction. Then my friend @arashjacob1 suggested that instead of turning away from the despair and hopelessness... that I give it office hours. Or a half-hour, more specifically: Meditate into the heart of all that sadness for thirty minutes each day - not to try to change it or fix it, not to rationalize it into hope... to just simply observe it for everything it is. This has not been an easy path. But one benefit is that moments of joy feel more fully lived. As if by letting the air out of that despair... I don’t have to carry it. By acknowledging it with my heart... my body no longer sees the need to maintain a tether to that part of the human experience. The other perk... is that this practice of acknowledgment seems to have made it safer to see people, myself, and other parts of life as they really are - instead of how I wish them to be, or how I know they COULD be at their most realized. This approach is NOT for everyone. At least not all the time. Nothing in the consciousness realm is one-size-fits-all. But just in case it resonated with you... I wanted to put it out there.