STAYING POSITIVE IN A SYSTEM OF NORMALIZED NEGATIVITY

The positivity we surround ourselves with is nothing compared to the system of normalized negativity that is designed to surround us. You wake up first thing in the morning to mark attendance on WhatsApp TL and status. Oh, you slept off yesterday while consuming twitter trends on how the country is not working and there is so much poverty and insecurity.

Later, you get talking with neighbors that normalize curse words as part of their conversations. And then you get to the office to meet some of your colleagues who specialize in spending the first few hours of work time talking about how they hate their job and can't wait to switch or just Japa to Canada.?

That already affects your mood for the day, aside from subconsciously conditioning your mind to begin to dislike your job - the same job you got after several failed attempts and interviews.

And then after work, you hook up with friends - some of which cannot say 5 sentences without using the F word or gossiping about who broke up yesterday or who cheated on their partner last millennium.?

And you don't want to go to your church friends cos those ones are always talking about the next vigil, the previous convention, the Pastor's wife and her dressing, etc.

Even music & movies are all laced with something that threatens your mental well-being one way or the other.?

And left with no choice, you retire to spending most of the time on your phone, exercising your adrenaline. Instagram Explore with one out of 5 posts showing you a video of a twerk queen or their pictures showing their curves from different angles, reminding you of what you don't have as a lady, pulling waves of emotions that threaten your self-esteem.?

Or as a guy, you are stirred to lust and conditioned to objectify the female gender so that it becomes difficult to see them beyond an entertaining tool.

How about the feeds where Jist Lover and Instablog9ja comment sections that would pin you to the screen for hours unending? Or Twitter, the hub of different and wonderful Nigerian human beings whose comments and tweets just get you wondering ''what was this person thinking or smoking when writing this?''

Very few things around us are designed to favor us. But then is it possible to control the things around us? Can one live a sane life in an insane world like ours? Can one control the things one is surrounded with?

Written by Istifanus Sarki