(1) Thread: How are you doing?

Genuine question. We're all angry beyond belief at the way #GeorgeFloyd lost his life. Most of us are just as angry at the related subsequent deaths of LEOs & other innocent parties this week.

This thread is about coping strategies for you & me.

(2) There's a free, 24/7 professionally staffed national helpline for anyone suffering distress from a previous or current disaster, including "civil unrest." https://twitter.com/distressline/status/1266388717457100800

(3) June happens to be PTSD awareness month.

A large number of the people you know, including me, and possibly you, live with this terrible disorder.

It causes lifelong daily potential to be instantly transported back to the moment where you believed your life was in danger.

(4) We who live with this constant pain through no fault of our own, find each new crisis challenging.

Please hear my message that help is available, and plenty of us do understand, and we've got your back.

#PTSDAwarenessMonth

(5) I've walked in both the faith-based world & secular world.

I know first hand how y'all can get antsy about each other's belief or non belief.

Can we just put that can of worms to one side for now?

Live & let live. Allow folk the right to cope in ways that work for them.

(6) If you're a non believer then the helpline I linked above is there for you, and you will be free of faith-based content there.

If you're a believer, of any stripe, you can access a plethora of options online and irl.

I'm going to offer a few things below.

(7) I'm a Christian and listening to music is my thing.

I've had my favorite artist of the moment, Michael W Smith playing in the background all day and I swear my blood pressure is lower by several points as a result.

18 hymns to warm your soul: https://open.spotify.com/album/7i8SdLdKus9UP5WufzYwiN?si=IoK_w1ozTU2hAEsrh4Q_TQ

(7) So if it helps, find your favorite music and start playing it. Especially if that will make any teenagers in your home cringe. That's our duty as parents and other adults in their life. #caring

Also, pray. Just take it to the Lord in prayer. You know that helps.

(9) It's only natural that you and I would be stressed out at a time like this. We each have to keep going with our usual responsibilities at a time when pandemic then this crap has rocked our world in multiple ways.

Don't feel guilty about it, as if you should just be strong.

(10) Yes there are people worse off than you or me.

That doesn't mean we should ignore the level of stress, worry or pain we are feeling. That's within our control and the only person whose job it is to attend to it is ourselves.

Survivor guilt is a thing.

(11) I'm extremely grateful for my faith at this time. It has given me the strength to withstand extraordinary challenges this year.

America is an exceptional country and always has been.

She has survived worse than this.

(12) It sucks, incredibly, that so many innocent Americans are being assaulted and stolen from because of the failures of some people in local, state, or federal government agencies.

For every act of evil there are many other acts of love and grace, so remember that.

(13) I read recently about the Holocaust, that while it showed the massive capacity for evil, the response to it by various good people showed the massive capacity for good that there is in the world.

I have found this a helpful way to look at other acts of evil.

(14) In time, someone out there will collate video clips and other evidence of the good things that have been happening in spite of all the evil.

Most Americans are good and are doing good.

Thank you for that.

(15) Two images I'll remember from this week. Karen Pence feeling so excited about our return to independent space travel that she had to raise her fists in cheering it. And a free, Christian, American man reclaiming the 200-year church of Presidents for us.

God bless America.