Finding Clarity and Peace Amidst Political Division
5 Steps to Keep Your Sanity
The current political climate can feel overwhelming and draining, often leaving us feeling disheartened and divided. I recently started to write about the presidential debate and quickly found myself feeling down. Fortunately, I’ve developed a process that helps me stay grounded and positive, even amidst the chaos. These five steps can help you maintain clarity and peace, no matter your political stance.
Step One: Get to Know Yourself
Understanding yourself deeply is the foundation of staying grounded. Take the time to explore your values, strengths, weaknesses, wins, and traumas. When you have a clear sense of what drives and shakes you, you can navigate life’s challenges with grace. Knowing yourself reduces surprises and helps you filter through the noise, which is especially important during tumultuous times.
Step Two: Check-In and Integrate Play
Self-care goes beyond traditional wellness practices. Regularly take stock of your emotional state and check in with the people closest to you. A genuine “How are you?” can go a long way. If you or someone near you is feeling down, don’t underestimate the power of playfulness. Introducing a bit of fun and light-heartedness can significantly improve your mood and create a positive environment.
Step Three: Learn Your Power of Choice
It’s easy to get caught up in the news cycle or negative conversations, but you have the power to choose how you engage. Here are a few strategies:
- Acknowledge: Recognize when you’re in a potentially draining situation.
- Challenge: Politely challenge the negativity, either directly or discreetly.
- Redirect: Change the subject if it’s not the right time or place.
- Accept: Sometimes, sitting in discomfort and learning from it is necessary.
- Abstain: Choose not to engage and take things slowly.
- Exit: Protect your peace by removing yourself from the situation.
Step Four: Know Your Purpose
A strong sense of purpose and personal values provides clarity amidst fleeting emotions. Remember that emotions and thoughts come and go, but words and actions tend to have lasting impacts. As emotions and thoughts arise, use your emotional and values awareness to ensure that your words and actions align with your long-term intentions. This alignment will help you stay focused on what truly matters to you.
Step Five: Stay Optimistic
Maintaining an optimistic and global-minded perspective is crucial. At our core, we are all human, sharing more similarities than differences. We all want to survive, be healthy, and experience joy and happiness, even if our methods differ. Recognize that everyone faces challenges, and these experiences shape us. Despite our differences, we have survived together thus far, and we must believe in our collective ability to overcome future challenges.
Build Bridges to a Brighter Future
These steps — self-awareness, regular emotional check-ins, recognizing your power of choice, knowing your purpose, and staying optimistic — form a process that can help you navigate the current political climate with clarity and peace. Reflecting on these steps regularly can be seen as a meditative practice or a call to action to end the trajectory of division we see around us.
By taking care of yourself and fostering a positive outlook, you contribute to a more united and compassionate world. Let’s work together to bridge our divides and create a brighter future.
Check out my recent feature on MSN “3 Ways Business Leaders Can Increase Their EQ — and Why They Should”
About Michael Tennant
Michael Tennant, CEO of Curiosity Lab is an entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and author of The Power of Empathy available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Target, and described by Inc. Magazine’s 100 NonObvious Business Books as “A Thirty-Day Path to Personal Growth and Social Change effectively balancing a self-help approach with a practical explanation of how we can use empathy as a tool.” He’s also the creator of Actually Curious™ the empathy conversation game, Values Exercise™, and the Five Phases of Empathy™. In 2022, Curiosity Lab received an investment from Pharrell and the Black Ambition Prize.
