Lighten up!

Is it just me, or is the world going to hell and heading there at an accelerated rate and by the most direct route possible?

It's not like the signs have not been obvious. We've been doing our level worst to ruin our home here on this planet for a thousand years. Lately, we have gotten so good at it that we can wreck entire portions of the planet in a matter of months. If we are not careful, we could end up firing off weapons which will finish us all off, and in a matter of weeks or less.

What to do, what to do?

Worry doesn't help. Fretting is not a productive pursuit at any time, so it sure isn't the way to go now.

Anger is a great way to pump up the blood pressure, but other than releasing lots of hormones which can make one feel alive, it isn't a path to solution.

Deep depression? Falling into a black hole is an escape. While removing oneself from the immediate problem, you tie yourself up with inner demons which can ruin everyday living as it turns everything gray.

All of these responses are lining up your energy--your vibrational self--with that of the disaster, the most recent being the Deepwater Horizon massive oil plume threatening a way of life in four states and recreation areas potentially all the way up the Atlantic coast of the USA. Such an affiliation does absolutely nothing to move us toward an answer.

Einstein famously pointed out that it is impossible to solve a problem while remaining in the same conscious space where the problem came into being. To quote him directly:
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."

So far today, we have determined that worrying, getting angry, becoming depressed, and working from the same mindset we were in which birthed the problem are, none of them, methods out of this madness.

What if we decided to treat it as a grand puzzle, one which we all work on from a place of play and creativity? And, what takes us into that creative space faster than finding something to lighten our spirits? Laughter is a powerful path to a lighter spirit, although there are many who find it appalling that anyone would dare even hint at a smile in such dire times.

Of course, we have already decided that the doom-'n-gloom attitude is appropriate only in order to remain stuck in this problem.

Consider the case of laughter therapy in current use for all manner of serious medical problems. Everything from terminal illness to Alzheimer's to chronic-pain conditions now have practitioners who find humor used therapeutically to be a positive for the patients involved.

It's not a cure, but it can result in a better quality of life for those who are dying, those who are in pain, and those who are gradually disappearing before their bodies give out.

Why not apply this technique, this prescription, to the largest problem we face today? It is already happening in an unorganized fashion as illustrated by the fake BP Twitter account which has entertained millions even as the disaster has broadened in scope.

Find humor today. Giggle, chuckle, snort and chortle.

It's not an instant cure, but it is a way out of the "we're doooooomed" mindset. And that's the first step, isn't it, to recognize that we actually can solve this one, too?