Fandango has picked up on something that I think we’ve all been noticing. It’s harder to be happy these days.

It seems to me that a lot of people I talk with are not happy campers. Whether it’s due to an excessive heat wave, a severe drought, or raging wildfires — all of which we’re experiencing in my neck of the woods — or torrential rains, downpours, flooding, and flash floods in other parts of the country, people are upset.

And then there’s politics, where everyone has issues, no matter what side of the aisle you sit on. Social issues, ranging from abortion rights, LGBT rights, book bannings in schools, critical race theory, whitewashing history, antisemitism, FBI raids on Mar-a-Largo, or whatever, people are at each other’s throats.

Or maybe it’s just a general malaise people are feeling that things just aren’t the way we’d like them to be.

https://fivedotoh.com/2022/09/07/fandangos-provocative-question-181/

What I want to know is this…

How are you doing? Seriously, are you okay? Feeling good? Just okay? Not so great? Why do you think you’re feeling the way you are?

I’m deeply concerned about the way things are going in the world. Everything seems to be piling on. Covid hasn’t gone away yet, prices for everything are on the rise. Politics everywhere seem to be so much more spiteful than ever before.

We recently learned that our former Prime Minister, defeated at the last election, had taken it on himself to be sworn in to five other ministries during the pandemic without bothering it to mention it to either the ministers whose jobs he was shadowing or the public at large. My opinion of him went down another notch.

When I look at America, I just wonder what the heck is going on. The country seems to be going backwards in so many areas. I really worry for my US friends.

The war in Ukraine drags on with no end in sight.

There are fires, droughts and floods everywhere.

Is it any wonder that we feel upset? I feel that I’m always complaining about something these days.

Despite all this I think I’m doing OK. I worry about all these things but I try not to obsess over them. I just try to live my life and take pleasure in small things. I can still enjoy a sunny day, spring flowers, the funny ways of our pets and resident wildlife. We have little outing sometimes and those are always good days. Any day I can take pictures is a good day. I still have blogging and my other hobbies to keep me entertained and distract me from all the doom and gloom.

Am I sticking my head in the sand? Maybe at times, but it seems to me that it’s better to switch off from it all sometimes than to become more and more miserable and depressed over it. I know I can’t change the world so I just try to live my best life.