Sadness kind of washed over me when I read your post. We’ve all been touched with at least some form of this hysteria. That’s what it sounds like. He seems so angry and afraid. One thing I’ve learned the past few years, and I have to remind myself constantly- you can only control the small space around you. If you drew a circle around your feet, that’s about the extent of it. So YOU control how you respond to him and other family members but aside from that, all you can do is be a good role model, try to educate others as best you can and live your life the way you see fit. You have some choices. The most annoying one would be to move away. That isn’t always practical and certainly not easy. So the other most obvious choice is to try not to let him bother you. Easier said than done, I know. But I don’t see too many other options. Is there a way to shield his prying eyes from what’s going on in your world? Is there a way to shelter yourself from speaking with him?

What’s going to happen when he finally “gets covid?” Maybe that will change the dynamics a lot. But you asked what to do to avoid blowing up on people, damaging relationships and that’s when it comes back to your circle of control. You can control that. You can walk away. You can meditate and/or pray. You can try a sport that expends a lot of energy, you can do what I do and rant like a lunatic by myself in the car (because it upsets most people and dogs if I do it near them.) You can join a church, club or take up a hobby that uses up some downtime and helps you realize you’re not alone. Idk I’m just throwing out ideas but you have complete control how you let this guy affect you. He’s the one who is helpless, stuck inside, sick with worry and anger but you’re not. So you have a big advantage.

The hardest thing for me to have learned is to keep my anger in check. Not say hateful things. Not blow up. I know so many idiots and I have to use snippets of useful info on them, rather than launching into a lecture. Like.. “if masks worked, why do we have to social distance?” and “if the vaccine worked, why are they saying you still have to wear a mask” and so on. But they tend to tune you out anyway if you give too much info so keep it simple. I practice anger control here. I see shills and even regulars with a little frog next to their names being complete assholes to others on here and it’s all I can do some days to not call them out. But I can control how I deal with it myself. Ignore for the most part and deport when is necessary. So maybe look at it like that.

Sorry, too long. You’re not alone, fren!

Sadness kind of washed over me when I read your post. We’ve all been touched with at least some form of this hysteria. That’s what it sounds like. He seems so angry and afraid. One thing I’ve learned the past few years, and I have to remind myself constantly- you can only control the small space around you. If you drew a circle around your feet, that’s about the extent of it. So YOU control how you respond to him and other family members but aside from that, all you can do is be a good role model, try to educate others as best you can and live your life the way you see fit. You have some choices. The most annoying one would be to move away. That isn’t always practical and certainly not easy. So the other most obvious choice is to try not to let him bother you. Easier said than done, I know. But I don’t see too many other options. Is there a way to shield his prying eyes from what’s going on in your world? Is there a way to shelter yourself from speaking with him?

What’s going to happen when he finally “gets covid?” Maybe that will change the dynamics a lot. But you asked what to do to avoid blowing up on people, damaging relationships and that’s when it comes back to your circle of control. You can control that. You can walk away. You can meditate and/or pray. You can try a sport that expends a lot of energy, you can do what I do and rant like a lunatic by myself in the car (because it upsets most people and dogs if I do it near them.) You can join a church, club or take up a hobby that uses up some downtime and helps you realize you’re not alone. Idk I’m just throwing out ideas but you have complete control how you let this guy affect you. He’s then one who is helpless, stuck inside, sick with worry and anger but you’re not. So you have a big advantage.

The hardest thing for me to have learned is to keep my anger in check. Not say hateful things. Not blow up. I know so many idiots and I have to use snippets of useful info on them, rather than launching into a lecture. Like.. “if masks worked, why do we have to social distance?” and “if the vaccine worked, why are they saying you still have to wear a mask” and so on. But they tend to tune you out anyway if you give too much info so keep it simple. I practice anger control here. I see shills and even regulars with a little frog next to their names being complete assholes to others on here and it’s all I can do some days to not call them out. But I can control how I deal with it myself. Ignore for the most part and deport when is necessary. So maybe look at it like that.

Sorry, too long. You’re not alone, fren!