A Twitterer's Guide to Emotional Stability

We have a big night ahead of us folks and a very important job. It is imperative that we do this job as effectively as humanly possible. But we’re only human. On 13 Aban and before that, I realized that many people are emotionally torn while carrying on doing what we do here.

So in anticipation, I just want to share with everyone what I do to keep myself from getting emotionally affected by what I do WHILE I’m doing it. This only puts my hurt off for later. What it does is it allows me to focus entirely on doing my job when it is most needed.

I’m sure others have their own ways of coping, but I thought a bit of sharing couldn’t really hurt. So I’ll just explain what I was taught as a journalist to minimize such bouts that would hamper my performance on the field. I amended it a bit to fit the circumstances and it works – at least for me. Here’s what I do:

-         Find my happy song or songs and listen to them throughout. This helps elevate my mood. I avoid listening to songs that might upset me in ANY WAY.

-         I imagine that I’m playing some sort of game; like I’m chatting with a long-lost friend or a love interest. Mentally, I’m reporting horrible crimes, but emotionally, I’m just having some fun. I COMPLETELY shut myself out to the reality that I’m reporting painful things. As long as I’m reporting, the people for who I care deeply are just subjects to me. (I’m not cold and heartless, this is to help THEM. I will hurt later, but they need me at that moment more than I need to emotionally relieve myself.)

-         When I leave my computer to get tea, water or coffee or smoke a cigarette I do not try to remember what I was just doing. I think of what I will be doing the next day or what I have done the day before.

-         I try to minimize my exposure to videos and photos as much as I can. It is not necessary for me to watch every video or look at every photo. Images are far more haunting than words. Avoid especially brutal ones and please use a disclaimer before posting violent videos or photos to minimize your friends’ exposure to such material. We’re all in this together.

-         A bit of humor don’t hurt nobody. Lighten up others’ mood if you can. This has helped me in the past a great deal and I’m sure it will help others as well. Just takes a bit of effort.

-         Don’t hesitate to let your other friends know if you feel overwhelmed. They might be able to offer encouragement which might help get you out of the temporary dark spot. It has helped me and I’ve seen it help others so reach out to each other and be prepared to help if someone’s reaching out to you.

-         Relax. You cannot physically enter the battle and stop the abuse. I utter this over and over when I see such things and am forced into thinking I actually can teleport myself with a machine gun to war zones. Helps.

Here’s hoping this helps you if you made it to this part. I’ll go die for a few hours. See you at my resurrection!