I think we're all clued in on what's been happening these days (especially the recent shooting in Las Vegas) and...it's pretty bad.  Isn't it?  And there's nothing left to say really in situations like this where the violence is just getting worse with each passing year.  It kind of makes one pause and take a step back to figure out where all this is coming from.

First of all, my condolences to those who have sustained losses in ANY of the recent violence that's been happening lately.  I actually know a couple in Las Vegas.  They had family members who attended the concert and were there when all the bullets went flying.  Thankfully they escaped physically unscathed.  (Psychologically...well, that's a whole other thing altogether.)  Others, however, didn't fare well and some are still fighting for their lives as you read this.  It's all so sad, really, on two sides: the side in which there are so many lives lost in such an unimaginable way but the other side in which a single individual feels that this is somehow necessary to carry out.

I get what it's about being depressed.  I understand isolation, loneliness, and a feeling of disconnection from fellow human beings.  I get all that.

What I DON'T get is carrying out harm towards others when feeling this way.  Typically people feeling depressed and disconnected tend to harm only themselves and not TONS of others...unless he's pissed off in some way.

And I say he...because it seems like it's ALWAYS a man (or men) carrying out these unspeakable crimes, isn't it?  (Why is that anyway?)

As time goes on I'm noticing that people are feeling more frustrated, more disconnected, more angry, more helpless...and more out of control.  I believe this is why people are doing these things.  I may be wrong, but that's just my general assessment.  The more off-balance we are becoming as a world, the more these things will not only continue to happen but will happen with greater frequency while more and more people's lives are taken in each incident as these crack-pots get more "creative" in how they can take even more people in one fell swoop.

Pretty soon, people won't leave the house anymore.  And the terrorists will have won.  (Yes, that man in Vegas WAS a terrorist...I don't care who he was or what his background was.  Anyone who inflicts pain, death, and fear upon people is a terrorist.)

So, what's the solution to all of this?  Is there even a solution?

I don't know.  I mentioned that when I was in Europe, I saw a boatload of Syrian refugees in the middle of the ocean, drove down the very street in Nice, France where the "refrigerator truck terrorist" killed all those people and, a week after departing from Barcelona, saw that there was a terrorist attack there...in the exact same area where we were in Barcelona.  (I recognized the art that was painted on the walkway there.)  One may think:  "Well, that was in Europe."

Now one can and should think:  Now it's here, in the United States at any given time and at any given place.  (Think Vegas, think Pulse in Orlando, think Sandy Hook...think waaaayyyyy back to 9-11 in case you forgot so, yes, it's HERE too!)

So...what do you do then?  Sit around living in fear?  Get depressed?  Feel even more hopeless as a nation and as a globe than you did maybe only last week?

Nah.  That's definitely not the answer.  It can't be.  And neither can living safely behind closed doors be the answer either (because who even knows how safe that is anymore).

The answer, I believe, is to keep YOU and YOUR LIFE as balanced as possible.  Stay focused and aware of your surroundings.  Trust your intuition or your "gut."  But don't live in a closet because of fear.  Definitely DON'T do that!  (Because once you stop living your life out of fear then you die in that moment anyway.) 

The question THEN becomes, "How do you stay focused while completely balanced and [gasp] even HAPPY in the midst of all this?"  I suppose the true answer differs greatly from one person to the next.  For me, I've found that I have to have a deep sense of purpose in what I'm doing, mainly in doing FOR OTHERS and not really for myself.  I suggest the same for you.  Find some purpose, even if it's just being there for your family and friends.  It doesn't have to be this huge sense of purpose to be relevant.  Seriously, you don't.

When I was doing my last workshop (which ended over this past weekend), I noticed that there was a common theme among many of my students which, before, I would condemn.  (I don't anymore.)  And that is this:  "I just want to make money doing anything so long as I can spend more time with my family while being able to afford to travel and do the things I want to do."  While before I thought this was kind of shallow, I later realized that this is exactly what everybody is after.  And, perhaps, if EVERYBODY was able to work less (having much less stress) working for themselves (having a sense of CONTROL over their lives) and be able to spend more time with their friends and families traveling and doing what they want (having a better sense of CONNECTION), perhaps everybody would be more BALANCED and more "zen."  And zen people don't go out shooting people.  They just don't.

If you want to check out something that maybe YOU can use to gain control over your life, CLICK HERE!  After all, everybody is looking for more control and balance.  And you're probably not getting that now.  But you can.

In the meantime, stay happy and healthy, my friend.  Life is too short to be sad all the time.

See you at the top!

Your mentor,

Monica Main