When told to not take everything so seriously I think I get very angry because I hear "stop caring about life and cruelty and wrongness" and that is not who I am nor who I will ever choose to be. I prefer to care, even if it means to be in pain. For me, apathy is not an option.

I've been accused of being the most serious person someone knows on multiple occasions. The problems in the world are endless and I'm trying to focus on what I stand for instead of what I stand against because I think it makes it easier for others to get behind.

you managing that? Are you finding specific points of what you stand for rather than against and what that process is like for you? I'm taking all advice into consideration that is from the truth of a person rather than the palliative pap smeared over humanity like acid rain. :)

I think it starts by asking yourself what you want to accomplish or what is important to you and then identifying ways in your life to address that. Don't get me wrong, there are many things that need to be stood against, but there can just be more balance.

To give you some examples from my perspective. I try to lift the people up around me. I dislike how the industry treats jr. devs, so I treat them well. I train them and give them a space to learn and grow. I certainly do rant about how much I dislike the way they are treated

, but I try to balance that out with having actually addressed the thing I am upset about, even if in a small way, so that I am not just simply venting rage into the universe and instead creating the change I want to see.

There are more serious matters like when people with mental health issues are ignored/treated poorly and I try to make a difference there as well. I have my own problems to wrestle with, but I try to provide strength in the ways that I can to make up for the ways that I cannot.

I was just speaking with a friend about this very thing that building walls I thought would protect me actually have kept me away from the very actions that allow empathy and kindness to flow from me and to me and to us all. There is only one way out of grief and that's love.