The mass shooting in Las Vegas last weekend was a terrible shock, and a traumatic event – not only for those affected directly by event, but for those who have witnessed – and continue to witness the news coverage. The tragedy has resulted in a range of powerful emotional reactions. Here are a few points to consider in your own reaction, followed by five things you can do in response to these events, that are positive and productive.
 
Points to Consider:

  • Reading about the traumatic event, watching the news, listening to commentary, and participating in social media discussions means your focus is on the tragedy and all of the aspects of that tragedy.
 
  • While you are focused on the event and all that is terrible about it, your brain and body are producing stress chemicals (which are resulting in the emotions of fear, rage, hate, anger, grief and other stress states)
 
  • None of these emotions, no matter how strongly you feel them, are going to result in undoing the tragedy, preventing further tragedies, healing the injured, bringing back those who lost their lives, or comforting the families of the victims.
 
  • The only result of those emotions is that your body is put into a state of emergency (fight, freeze or flight) which is having a knock-on effect on your health, social life, work life, productivity, creativity, relationships, and so much else. The way you feel affects everything you do.
 
What can You do?
 
If you are able to help in some way, put your focus on that. In other words, if you are able to physically be there to help, or you are able to contribute in some other constructive way, put your focus on the positive result you are aiming to achieve by that action.
 
If you are not able to take some kind of action that will contribute to the recovery or restoration in some way, here are five positive steps you can take right now:
 
1. Use an effective method (like Robert G. Smith’s Faster EFT) to clear all feelings of fear, anger, hate, grief, outrage – and all other stressful, negative emotions. The Faster EFT technique (completely different to regular EFT) is an incredibly effective and fast (funny that! 😉 ) way to release all negative emotional states. It works by interrupting the signal from the brain to the organs to release the stress chemicals that cause those negative and stressful emotions. You can find the videos on how to do it for yourself on the YouTube channel: HealingMagic
 
2. Stop reading about what happened in Las Vegas. It can be difficult at first because you may feel compelled to read about it (use the Faster EFT technique to clear that compulsion too!) Stop watching the news reports, discussing it, and participating in social media discussions about it. None of these actions is helping the situation or the victims; but they are causing damage to you.
 
3. Spend some time getting yourself into a loving state by using the Superpower Exercise (you can find out how to do this at yourselfempowered.com/exercises-and-techniques) and then send that love to Las Vegas – allow it to fill the whole city, and every person in it with that love. This will be beneficial whether you are spiritual or an atheist – or anything in-between! If you believe in something beyond the physical, you are sending a powerful positive energy where it is needed – you are shining light into darkness; if you do not believe in anything beyond the physical, you are, at the very least, allowing your body and brain to dilute the harmful stress chemicals with endorphins – you are changing your physiological state… which have a knock-on effect on all areas of your life and those around you.
 
4. Make a list of people you love – especially those you haven’t contacted for a while; and connect with each one. Expressing our affection for those we care about contributes to our quality of life in powerful, positive ways.
 
5. Make a list of all of the things in your life for which you are grateful. This may sound simplistic, but when you consider what happens in your brain and body when you do this, you will realise how powerful it is. When you feel thankful for something or someone, your brain and body chemistry changes – stress chemicals are replaced by oxytocin, serotonin and other “feel good” chemicals. And this, again, has a knock-on effect on the action you take, the way you communicate, the way you eat, how active you are, how productive you are, how creative you are… you get the idea! 
 
The Main Points Again:

  • If you can physically help, do that. If you can’t physically help, take your focus off the tragedy and contribute by shining light into darkness.
  • Focusing on the tragedy is not helping the victims or their families, and it is not preventing further tragedies; it is adding darkness to darkness
  • Your emotional state affects your cognitive thinking, the decisions you make, your productivity, your ability to see opportunities, the action you take, the way you eat, the physical energy you have, how you communicate, your health, your ability to comprehend, and every other aspect of your life.

There is no benefit to feeling hate, anger, fear, grief or any other stressful emotion.
There are infinite benefits to feeling love, compassion, joy, fun, kindness, forgiveness and gratitude.