I’ve heard it said that when people used to duel with swords, they could not get angry or let emotion into their head during the fight, for that was the quickest way to lose the duel – and maybe even die. Ideally their mind would be almost blank, cool and calm, while their body moved in a well-trained rhythm, doing what they had practiced and finding victory.

I have thought for a long time that fighting for any sort of social change is like that.

It is extremely easy to panic about the climate. We are living in truly dark times. It might, indeed, be the end of us – and millions of other species.

It doesn’t NEED to be, but who knows if people will wake up in time or if they will cling to their delusions too stubbornly for humanity to survive?

We are in a fight to the death, and a slip here or there can be our end. So what should we do?

Mental toughness:

Do not spend all your time thinking about the environment. Try to find happiness in big and little ways each day. Find things to be thankful for. Cry sometimes. When you hate people (which you will if you focus on how we as a species seem both suicidal and ecocidal), go find a real live person to talk to face to face and maybe do something nice for them. Or let them do something nice for you. Realize that all of us will die at some point, and courage is necessary to live a good life in any era. Learn to laugh at disaster and decide you will defy fate.

Being effective: