The soap-opera will continue whether you watch it, or not.

What do you choose to do with your one, precious life?

Once you decide what you believe, and how you want to live, the rest of it becomes a soap opera. A divisive drama which doesn’t need you, in order to continue.

I watched a soap opera for 30 years of my life. One day, while watching characters that I used to love scream at each other, I decided I didn’t like them anymore. I had had enough. I realised that the show had slowly deteriorated and I was that frog in the saucepan, hanging on for dear life, hoping the situation would improve. At that moment I realised that I actually wasn’t enjoying the show at all, the storylines were petty, irritating and exasperating. The investment of my time and energy into the character’s lives was a drain and I had better things to do. I never regretted that decision, but it was a shock to me to see how long I held on for before reaching that point.

Why is there always so much drama? Not only in soap operas, but in real life too?

Look over here, now look over there… I was looking in all the directions - the ones they pointed out, the ones the other side pointed out, and the ones that nobody was pointing out, just in case I was missing something.

I wasn’t missing out on anything.

A friend of mine used to work in television. She said that the news was designed to run like a soap opera, each storyline lasting for at least two weeks, sometimes three, nothing really happening in-between. In the middle of the plandemic she suggested I took some time off to restore balance and reduce my stress levels, assuring me that it would be okay if I did so. I took her advice, and she was right, I didn’t miss much. I remember how difficult that was to do, because when we are on high alert, we need to keep our eyes wide open in case we miss something.

They keep the drama going to keep us on high alert. This drains us, and makes us weak.

I have decided how I’m going to live. I have decided what I believe. I know this can be difficult for some people, and I respect that because I’ve had years where it’s been difficult for me. But I have chosen, and I have decided. I think perhaps you have too. If not, setting an intention to choose and to decide, can help with the process of getting to that point.

And similarly, I’m choosing to walk away from the real-life soap opera. Is it even real? It’s difficult to know. When it comes down to it, does it really matter? We never truly know what is real, anyway.

Our energy and time are the most valuable things that we have, and time is ticking, life is passing us by.

If I can say hand-on-heart that I did my best, that I have no regrets, that I am as good a person as I can be and that I never chose to deliberately harm anyone, then why do I need to know about everything that is going on outside of my own back yard?

Okay, yes it is useful to keep an ear out, to check the temperature, but do I need to know every single detail?

What I spend my time on and what I am aware of, what I pour my energy into, dictates how I feel. And that sets the baseline for the quality of my life. I no longer give permission for my energy to be sucked away by real-life, soap-opera-type drama.

I’ll say that again. I no longer give permission for my time and energy to be sucked away by drama.

How about you?

I invite you to do the same - at the very least set an intention to get your energy back from whatever it is that is sucking it from you. Did you give permission? Are you like I was, a frog in a saucepan not realising how hot it was getting and that it was long past time to jump out?

If it helps, decide what you believe, and decide how you want to live, and then become more choosy more pernickety, more fussy and more discerning, as to what you spend your precious life-force energy, and time on. You are allowed to judge. And you are allowed to say no to things.

And who knows, doing this may free you up to be more compassionate, more tolerant and more loving to yourself, and to everyone around you, and that alone, will make this world a better place.