When you’re living in a nightmare…

Have you ever been jolted from a nightmare and said: “Woo! I am glad that was not real!”

Well, that is how I awoke this morning. Except, the nightmare was my reality. The lynching in my city, the murders in my hometown, the police killings, and Donald Trump as a presidential candidate. All real.

So, the question I posed to myself: If I were in a nightmare, how would I cope? With that in mind, I offer these tips to deal when your reality is a nightmare:

1. Separate the real from the fake. Ever been in a dream and though it was ALL a dream, there were certain anomalies (like a random unicorn) that made you realize it was not real? Yea, that’s what I am doing in my life. I am choosing to compartmentalize things. Things that I can do something about = real. I refuse to allow fear of “maybe” to cripple me. “Maybe” is a unicorn.
2. Realize this is temporal. The solace of nightmares is that they end. Realize, the turmoil we currently face cannot last forever. I am not saying this in a “we shall overcome” tone. Rather, I am saying this in a “by any means necessary” tone. We (the “we” is inclusive of anyone who values human life) won’t ALLOW it to continue.
3. Concentration, channeling of energy and focus can change the outcome of a nightmare. “Lucid Dreaming” is the ability to know that you’re in a dream while in the dream and thus change/alter outcomes and actions. To do this, though, requires mental acuteness and practice. The answers to this nightmare can only come as we increase our mental agility. Unplugging from outlets that direct our emotions vs. allow us to control them, eating proper food, gathering useful information, meditation and exercise, are a few ways we can prep ourselves to influence this nightmare.

In closing, I’d like to say: if we do what we’ve always done, we will get what we’ve always gotten. Lets think outside the box, create our OWN dream, and awaken from this nightmare.

-Suporia