Active hope is not a feeling, it is an action. In the situation that we currently find ourselves in , what do you do to use your voice? In a time when we are being threatened with significant changes to our election processes, among other travesties, how are you engaging? I am doing a few things, but interested in how others will fight back against the regime?
© 2026 – SoulSequel
14 responses to “How are you engaging in active hope during these difficult times?”
Fight back???? I voted for exactly what is happening. For my part, I stay out of it. If you don’t get into the riots, you don’t get hurt. ICE needs to do what our President was elected to have them do. Get rid of the people who illegally crossed our border. You can say that some didn’t break the law, however just stepping over that border was breaking our laws. They are here illegally and need to go back over the border. There are legal ways to come into our country with proper paperwork and vetting. We don’t want people who murder citizens, or rape, or rob, or pull frauds. I stay out of ICE’s way. I stand back and let ICE do what we voted for.
@ladybarbara
Prolonged or chronic anger triggers a continuous “fight or flight” response, flooding the body with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Over time, this state of high alert can lead to significant physical, mental, and social side effects.
Physical Side Effects
Cardiovascular Issues: Frequent anger puts strain on the heart, leading to high blood pressure (hypertension), increased risk of heart disease, and a higher likelihood of stroke.
Weakened Immune System: Chronic stress from anger can reduce the body’s white blood cell count, making you more susceptible to infections and illnesses.
Digestive Problems: Anger can disrupt the gut-brain connection, potentially causing acid reflux, stomach pain, bloating, and conditions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
Sleep Disturbances: High levels of arousal make it difficult to relax, leading to insomnia or poor quality sleep, which often creates a cycle of further irritability.
Chronic Pain: Persistent muscle tension can lead to tension headaches, jaw pain (TMJ), and unexplained back or neck pain.
Mental & Emotional Side Effects
Anxiety and Depression: Unresolved anger is strongly linked to increased emotional distress, which can manifest as persistent sadness, hopelessness, or Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
Cognitive Decline: Prolonged anger can impair your ability to think clearly, leading to poor decision-making, “anger blindness,” and difficulty concentrating.
Emotional Numbness: In cases of repressed anger, you may experience emotional flattening or a loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed.
Negative Outlook: Frequent anger can skew your perception, causing you to interpret neutral situations through a lens of hostility and resentment.
Social Categorization: Turns one into a big pain in the ass to be around, and results in being labeled as shrew, nag, b-word… etc.
@LuftBalloonEyeGouge I went down your list of ills and I am not experiencing any of them. I’m relaxed and trusting that ICE will do their job. On my part, I stay home and I don’t get involved. I voted for President Trump and I am at rest knowing he is keeping his promises. All is well and I sit with my popcorn and watch it all unfold.
I am so far out of touch. Once I left my job and moved I tuned out of a lot of things, the state of the country being one of those things.
Its exhausting, it truly is. I think at the end of the day everyone wants the same thing. To be in a safe country where everyone is treated fairly and vetted and processed fairly.
We get lost in the how to and lose grip on the actual goings on in the bigger picture. I agree that everyone should go through the same processes to come into our country. But the stealing people from homes and places of work is abhorrent.
I would be interested in seeing the number of actual legal citizens that have been picked up, detained, deported, or held for questioning because of the color of their skin.
If this were happening during 9/11 I think it would have had full support of Americans. So what is the difference, why now?
I don’t agree with any of it, there has to be a safer and more human way of doing things.
I haven’t the slightest clue where to start in terms of being a voice. And white privilege is a huge factor that I acknowledge makes this easier for me to overlook, but hell even being white doesn’t protect me from ICE.
Theres no longer peace in protests or any neutral ground for debates, everyone is so divided, and being taken advantage of by the people we have elected (they promise us this and give us that or such)
Im probably going to get a lot of shit for this of which I will choose to ignore
@fosheet If you don’t break the law, you have nothing to fear from police. You do have a driver’s license and proper ID that shows you belong her, so why worry??? ICE is working just fine in all other state, without incident. They are not taking people randomly. They are going after gang members, murderers, rapists, thieves, scammers, fraudsters, and criminals. To try to protect these criminals would tell me that you want them in our country. I don’t. I want them gone.
@ladybarbara so Renee Good and Alex Pretti were just casualties?
They were both Caucasian and had legal identification.
@fosheet They each put ICE in danger. Why bring a gun to a “peaceful” riot? If the officers fear for their lives, they are going to react with lethal defense. Had these people stayed home, they wouldn’t be dead.
@ladybarbara why couldnt he bring his gun? He had followed all proper protocol and had the training to do so
@ladybarbara False. I have personally known people who had documentation, and got taken to detention centers and kept overnight being given only water. Later they were dropped off at a mall by ICE because ICE finally realized they were here legally.Having papers does not protect you from being taken.
@fosheet This seems like a very balanced view of the issue. I see nothing inflammatory here. I think it is important to look at all sides. For example, people fleeing war torn countries or dangerous dictators may not always have a lot of options. They may cross a border illegally to flee danger, and then do everything they can to abide the laws of whichever country they seek refuge in. I think it is important to consider people’s stories. I agree it is not a black and white thing.
I still say put social workers in charge of the government and the country will be better for it.
I’ve tried not to let my inner nihilist take over. That’s about as engaged as I’ve been able to be about things over the last…lets say…decade. I’m not big on confrontation, so I don’t say much. I would like to say that it’s all fine and dandy like some folks because it hasn’t directly affected me (and there’s a big chance it won’t.) Fingers crossed, right? That would be comforting, but it is affecting actual human beings who are doing their best with what they have.
We’ve been trained for a long time to see everyone else as the other. It’s just a lot LOUDER these days. “Don’t believe what you see on tv, movies, etc.” Obviously, right? But it’s there in everything in a lot of different ways. I try not to dehumanize people just for existing as they are. It’s not a hard thing to achieve. I’ve tried to be a safe space to anyone and everyone. I will keep trying to be just that….to a point. It is a bit harder these days to see the good in people, but I will keep trying for that as well.
@barryjack This sounds very healthy minded and compassionate. Did you know that there is a lot of research behind increased happiness simply by being compassionate? Sounds like you are a pretty safe place to me!