Quality matters in what you consume and purchase, the thoughts you hold, and the conversations you entertain. Election season challenges our integrity. It presents black-and-white equations that pull us into garbage thinking and low-value conversations. Are you allowing outside chatter to sour your thoughts and emotions? Do you trade quality for convenience? It’s our responsibility to decide that quality matters enough to make high-value choices, especially when presented with very few. Prioritize your personal quality above all else and it will support your highest visions for a better future. You make the greatest contribution, embodying the quality you seek.
The “Stuff” of Life: You Deserve Quality Choices
In terms of purchases, the ‘haves’ acquire quality easily, in contrast to those who are used to financial struggles. For those with fewer resources, there are obvious challenges to eating nutritious food and enjoying quality stuff. We all deserve access to healthy food and safe products, but many people with financial obstacles must use their savvy and finessing to achieve the same ends. You needn’t buy off a dollar menu to stretch your food resources. A dollar’s worth of lentils provides several nutrient-dense meals. Quality is not always expensive or the most flashy.
Quality That Comes with Connection
Local online sites offer opportunities for neighbors to help each other. People from various backgrounds, ages, and wealth take part and contribute. Gifting is not transactional: not this for that! Sharing brings energetic returns of goodness to the giver and receiver. People ask for and donate everything from antique furniture to labor, organic vegetables and plants, concert tickets, and extra takeout meals. It’s pretty incredible. For more information, check out your local Buy Nothing Groups.
Getting What You Need and Desire While Making Quality a Priority
People can often find quality items from 2nd hand sources. Facebook still provides opportunities to find local treasures at affordable prices. I frequently prefer vintage items that stand the test of time. I may not replace my 30-year-old Egyptian cotton sheets with a new similar quality sheet unless I spend a ton of money. All kinds of degraded materials have replaced higher-quality ones. Thread counts used to be a good sheet thickness gauge, but manufacturers caught on, so the numbers are deceptive.
High thread count sheets do not mean better quality. Often, threads are simply split to create a higher thread count, misleading the consumer that it’s better, when in fact it can weaken the fabric and cause pilling.
Peacock Alley Thread Count Guide
The purity, utility, and longevity of your purchases are essential. I don’t want a new inferior appliance or rug off-gassing and polluting my home any more than I want to eat produce sprayed with Roundup. Although my habits suggest otherwise, I don’t always want to cook. It’s nice to go out to eat and not worry about cooking. But, because quality matters, I avoid fast food and rarely eat out. The best way to ensure quality ingredients is to cook yourself. Convenience comes with a price.
Not having quality options also comes with a price
The quality of the collective energy around us at any time will influence our personal quality. What we come to expect for quality on the outside is determined by our level of consciousness. We must safeguard ourselves from letting these external influences poison our higher nature. Otherwise, we risk falling into attractive patterns of expecting less quality from everything, including products to people. When quality matters the most, we’ll settle! Our view of potential and possibility shrinks. Time and again, we buy from Temu and convince ourselves it’s Gucci, only to end up with trumpery.
If you went to a restaurant, and the only thing on the menu was roadkill and rotten produce, you’d eat elsewhere. Quality matters, so choose quality over convenience.
The Illusion of Choice
Imagine being presented with a choice of only two beverages: one being curdled milk and the other cat piss, which one would you choose? What?! You don’t like either? If quality is lacking, promoters attempt to dress up and repackage the options to lure you into reconsideration. They describe the chunky milk as valium-infused coconut flakes encrusting a milky poultice, and the urine as a zesty twist of orange afloat in a mighty pee.
Curdled milk, or an Island Frappe as it’s now called, promises to save you from your worst fears about people who drink other beverages. Simultaneously, cat urine sold as Tiger Tonic declares it increases strength and virility. Testimonials have people proclaim: “It used to make me vomit, but now I feel tremendous!” TikTok videos show men drinking Tiger Tonic and then crushing the cans on their foreheads.
This repackaging works. Initially, we scoff at the absurdity, but in the absence of other options, we pick our beverage. We tell ourselves lies about our low-quality choices. Engage in arguments defending the few fragments of redeemable attributes. “The fair trade coconut flakes make me feel like I’m making a difference, doing my part.” When this doesn’t work, the attacks begin. For some, the attack is illogical and ongoing. “It’s UnAmerican to drink Island Frappe! They extract the ingredients from unborn babies!”
Elections Pose Challenges to Integrity
I dread the period leading up to a major election. The closer it looms, the more polarized and amped-up people become. It pulls you away from higher thoughts and drags you to the dregs of predicted extremes. It will suck you into the vortex of low-value conversation and arguments that do nothing but keep alive your worst fears of a dystopian future. We hear how imperative it is that one party prevail over another. Your freedom, individual rights, and the planet’s survival are at stake!
For a long time, I believed this. Somehow, regardless of which elected pawn reigns, we survive. The stars still come out at night. The sun rises, and the birds sing. I have air in my lungs and a bed to sleep in, both yesterday and today. It would be imprudent not to acknowledge this truth. You and I must stay grounded. Remember, each person has unique experiences, values, and beliefs. Often, these differences challenge us and make us fear the future if a particular candidate gets elected. No one wants a perspective or belief imposed on them, yet before every major election, grotesque infringements are commonplace.
Why are we forced to choose between low-value options when quality matters the most? If you find your reasoning for making a particular choice is because your alternatives are so heinous, you’re compromising your integrity. You may feel it is a necessary concession and present a persuasive argument for it. Choosing what we believe is the least detrimental option feels like no choice at all.
Politicians should wear sponsor jackets like NASCAR drivers, then we know who owns them.
Robin Williams
Big money will use its money to cancel out and dismiss legitimate quality independent options. They slander RFK as an anti-vaxer, and they pretend Marianne Williamson doesn’t exist. If you support the Big $ agenda, you get selected. Those who don’t, won’t get to play, period. Voters are left with no choice but to go along with whomever they throw at us.
The Manipulative Math of Black and White Equations
When A +B = Insanity.
There is always too much at stake to address a broken system. Our freedoms, autonomy, and fundamental rights are on the line. It is a fear of losing something precious that drives our voting. These paranoias keep us resigned in the box of stalled growth and change.
The politics of deepening Us vs. Them
Fear fuels political polarization. People cast their votes to avoid some impending catastrophe set in motion by the opposing party, not to support some grand vision of reform. Extremes become more extreme, and good people lose sight of how the political climate changes them. Some embody the very qualities they claim to hate. Quality and intellect suffer while activated and in the ‘emotional mind’. This emotional reactivity that happens over polarized issues leads to impaired presentations. (Read more: Sign of Intelligence? Perception Vs Truth). A friend on social media recently shared this quote:
I thank the universe every day that I wasn’t born dumb enough, evil enough, insecure enough, and hateful enough to have grown up to become a trump supporter.
The political strategy of creating an “Us Versus Them” generates equations of manipulative math. It tells a single story, discourages empathy, and dehumanizes the regular people within political camps. According to the equations, one can gauge a person’s character from voting choices. Recognize that every individual is a product of their unique life experiences, which we may never fully comprehend. A range of beliefs shapes the lens through which we view issues. Ignorance of one another spans all political spectrums.
Could someone drink Tiger Tonic and not be evil? Yes. In the same way, drinking an Island Frappe doesn’t mean you promote Communism. Stories about groups reflect our deepest fears. These narratives unearth the limiting beliefs we have about ourselves and those with dissimilar realities. Our perceptual lenses are at odds. The extreme avatars presented have each side believing safety comes from separation.
Most voters pick red or blue as they feel most closely align with their beliefs and values. Political figures are increasingly subpar. Yet when quality matters the most, we’re forced to choose one train wreck over another. In time, the more polarized the narratives become, the greater a supporter’s party allegiance.
Liberated personal truths expose manipulative math. Know yourself and the stories you’re likely to tell yourself to help you maintain a level of discernment. When told Democrats want to regulate and tax everything or that a red vote is evidence a person is racist, you’ll pause and reconsider those deductions. Be a witness of, not a participant in, black-and-white equations. When you get honest about your energetic tendencies and narratives, you see them more clearly in others. Let this soften you into empathy and not feed ammunition for a counterattack.
As you release attachments to controlling outcomes or opinions, you’re free to focus on what you want the future to look like instead of what you don’t.
Because Quality Matters…
Beyond what we buy or consume, quality matters concerning the relationships we entertain, the things we think about, and our daily habits. Together, this culminates into the quality of your overall presence. Your presence is infinitely valuable. It influences those closest to you and beyond.
Make choices that foster your value instead of detracting from it. In this way, you are the quality you seek externally. Politics is a distraction from the real life you live that counts. It may cloud your view of the beauty and blessings surrounding you, pulling your attention and focus away from your significant people.
It’s vital to remember that while the country hysterically banters about the importance of an election akin to a circus, your beautiful life is happening now! Your kids may be in the middle of their childhood. Your pets or your parents may be aging. This time will come and pass. Before you waste your precious energy attending to what is in the scheme of things of little value, decide to maintain the quality of your presence. Who you are as a partner, son or daughter, mother or father is valuable and worthy of protection.
If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.
Mother Teresa
How to Prioritize Personal Quality
Do some self-reflection to uncover the many ways you accept less! As a whole, Americans are complacent when quality matters. We trade value for convenience at the drive-through and online for next-day delivery. We binge-watch trash documentaries about serial killers and shallow reality TV shows for entertainment. And, we vote for the political candidates we don’t honestly hold in esteem.
Quality is hidden from view while your eyes fixate on a broken box. In the realm of infinite possibilities, quality exists!
How will you decide to interpret the world around you during a political season of us versus them?
What you CAN do…
- Refuse to allow negativity to infect your energy.
- See the humanity of all people regardless of where your beliefs and opinions fall.
- Believe in our connectedness and power to have the world we desire through embodiment, not judgment.
- Inner quality matters. Align with your higher self. (Your Higher Self: Master Your Divining Rod)
- Improve the environments where you spend time. It will elevate your energy and support your efforts to prioritize quality in other aspects of your life. For information on how to improve the quality of your physical spaces, visit me here: Estelle Bonaceto, Environmental Energy Clearing for Intentional Living.
- Say No to content that doesn’t feed you. Limit media exposure.
Focus on what you can control to make better choices. Talking about what we dislike leads to undesirable outcomes. It doesn’t mean you are blind to the imperfection within the world. Things will persist with or without your attention. Ponder the quality you desire to envision a life in alignment with that energy and draw it in.
It’s not a single vote or the cause you support that makes changes (especially if that’s about fueling what you don’t want). When you and I together with others collectively:
- take full personal responsibility for our choices and energy
- energize a vision of what we most desire to see in the world
- embody qualities we wish to see in others
- adhere to habits that heal, help, and elevate
We make changes and impact the greater world. It is the energetic message that says:
“Quality Matters! I am that quality and won’t settle for less than honesty, integrity, and authenticity.”
If we want specific outcomes for the future, we need a vision. Believe in it regardless of appearance. Thinking about problems and what’s wrong energizes the opposite of what you desire. It’s self-sabotage, and it obscures solutions. When you see injustice, envision how life looks when it’s honored and fuel that intention. Discover the qualities you most desire within yourself, and you’ll rouse this goodness in everyday people.
Amplify the beauty you see.
While quality is different for you than it is for me, each of us must do our part to upgrade expectations.
Quality matters and YOU are the catalyst for raising standards.
Please visit my Coaching Service’s page for more information or contact me to book an appointment for support with how to stay in integrity with your values. I wish you clarity and empowerment as you make difficult choices that may not be popular, but are necessary for you to maintain the quality you seek and deserve.
On of the best yet!
The concept of “FUD marketing” is a well-established strategy intended influence a person’s perception by circulating negative, dubious or outright false information. The practice is intended to appeal to fear. It’s an inexpensive and effective tactic. That’s why it’s popular among advertisers.
This blog post contains the tools we need to remain thoughtful and critical of incoming information. These tools are essential if we want curtail our reactions. We can become better decision makers when we embrace this outline.
This author’s bravery is commendable. It’s another of example of how individual empowerment can help to strengthen our communities. Thank you!
Thank you, Chris. I appreciate your explanation of FUD marketing and the compliment. Please keep reading my articles when you’re able. Your comments are a valuable contribution to the blogs.
So true about choice we alll have a choice in life
Indeed!