Control What You Can

November 5’s US Election Results came as a resounding shock across the globe with the decisive win of the fascist Donald Trump and the inversely proportional, calamitous defeat of the remaining modicum of American democracy and decency, Kamala Harris.

It had echoes of a disastrous, despotic, despicable and dystopian aftermath and to think we are only seeing the first few days of a newly-elected government. Just like anyone else, I was shocked and couldn’t believe that the majority of Americans legitimately voted for a person who would ruin so many lives with a promise of mass deportation of immigrants, a shameless disregard for the instrinsic rights of women, utter disrespect for the rights of homosexuals and transgenders to name a few…not even mentioning the eventual adverse repercussions to the Economy, both local and worldwide or even climate change.

But what do I care? I’m not American. I’m not an immigrant living in the States with a looming danger over my possible deportation or worse, captivity. As far as I know, I’m still a free person living in the Philippines who has to deal with our own versions of a subtle dictatorship, endemic poverty, extensive corruption and an overall Third World-ism! And to me, since we manage to live on a day-to-day basis, this is my blessing.

Thank goodness I’m educated enough to realise and accept the fact that you cannot control external forces happening around you so you shouldn’t really be bothered by them…the media, news events and people’s reactions or opinions. According to the Stoics' philosophy, you should only control what you can like your thoughts, beliefs, values and actions. That means you control your emotions, behaviour and reactions to situations, not the situation itself.

And so, I don’t and won’t let the recent events affect me and would rather focus on my own mental well-being by focusing on my Art, the natural antidote to life’s vicissitudes and physical exercise which is directly linked to one’s mental health. I hate to be a preacher of sorts but only by controlling one’s self can one bring goodness to the world around him/her. Don’t mind the world, only mind you.