Outrage Is Exhausting: Reclaiming Your Spirit in Hard Times

It’s hard to ignore the anger and outrage that seems to be everywhere these days. The world feels like it’s spinning out of control, and emotions are running high. It’s easy to get swept up in it, to feel that same outrage creeping into your own thoughts. But I’ve learned that living in that space, constantly feeding off the negativity, is draining. It doesn’t just steal our energy—it can rob us of our peace, our clarity, and even our compassion.

So how do we reclaim our spirit when everything feels heavy? For me, one of the most effective ways to find peace is through writing.

It’s not so much about traditional journaling, but rather the act of writing to release what’s inside. I write a series of posts on a topic, refining my thoughts until I feel at ease with them. It’s a practice that clears the fog and gives me a chance to process emotions, frustrations, and insights in a healthy way. Writing for me is like a reset button for my spirit—it’s where I can untangle the mess in my mind and put it into a form that makes sense.

When I look back on some of the topics I’ve written about, it almost feels like I was writing exactly what I needed to hear in those moments. It’s as if the words were guiding me through the very struggles I was experiencing at the time. And it is my hope that my writing is there for someone else when they need it the most—providing clarity, comfort, or simply a reminder that they are not alone in what they’re feeling.

But it’s not just writing that helps me regain my peace; it’s also about recognizing when something—or someone—is draining me. Spiritual jealousy, for example, used to be something I’d lean into. I would feel it and try to fix it, or analyze it, trying to understand where it was coming from. But over time, I realized that wasn’t helping. It only fueled more frustration. Now, when I feel that emotion arise, I simply walk away. I give myself the space to step back, breathe, and re-center.

Reclaiming your spirit isn’t about fighting every emotion or trying to fix every problem. Sometimes, it’s about walking away from what drains you, recognizing when your energy is better spent elsewhere.

We are all human, and we are all going to feel angry or upset about what’s happening in the world. But we don’t have to live in that space forever. We can choose to step back, breathe, and find practices that restore us, like writing, meditation, or simply spending time with people who uplift us.

When we reclaim our spirit, we not only feel better but can show up in the world in a more powerful way. We don’t have to fight the outrage—it’s inevitable—but we can choose how we respond to it.

How do you reclaim your spirit when the world feels heavy?

— Colleen