Letting the World Go On--A Paragraph a Day

Does it ever seem that the world is simply too overwhelming for us?  Does it seem that so many terrible things happen that it's not possible to stay happy if we really do feel compassion for the people to whom those terrible things are happening?  Does it seem unfair that we're sitting warm and comfortable in our homes while so many people are living through war and extreme poverty and crime and homelessness and goodness knows what else?  Sometimes it seems like that to me, and at those times I have to remember that my world is my world, and there's much to be grateful for here.  I don't have any influence at all on other people in other parts of the world, other than the amount that I donate each month to a particular charity (our personal charity is Doctors without Borders, though there are many others who do just as much good, if not more).  And I remind myself that if I were in a terrible situation, I wouldn't wish it upon anyone else, so those people who are living in better conditions could do me the best favor of all by truly appreciating their blessings while they have them.  The world will go on, and terrible things will continue to happen--and I'm not a terrible person for appreciating the food that I have, the shelter that I have, the blessings that I have.  We can't all be everywhere, saving everyone from adversity, but we can develop a sincere appreciation for the gifts that we have, for they truly are blessings, especially in light of the adversity that so many others are facing every day that we live.

War. Again. --A Paragraph a Day

One more time, we're reading about people killing one another in war.  People who disagree with one another politically, religiously, or whatever other reason they want to claim, so often turn to war to try to solve their disputes.  And as in any war, the number of civilian casualties that were first reported are astonishing.  People who were going about their day-to-day lives, unarmed and unprotected, were many of the first people to be killed in this war.  It's enough to make me sick--sick at heart and sick in spirit.  Without getting into any of the political or religious or economic arguments, it's almost impossible to talk about war in any but the most negative of tones, for there is really nothing positive about this tendency of human beings to kill one another.  Yes, people have every right to defend themselves when attacked, but being in the right morally and ethically doesn't necessarily mean that there's something positive in the killing.  Right now it's hard for me to focus on other things, even though the war is half a world away and I have no relatives or friends directly involved in it.  There are many fellow human beings suffering terrible things right now, and my heart has to be with them, even if I can do virtually nothing to help them.  And add to this chaos the fact that an earthquake in Afghanistan killed probably more than 2,000 people over the weekend, and we definitely have what Lucas called "a disturbance in the Force."  Much of humanity is suffering tonight--which is something that happens virtually every day on this planet--and we have to deal with the fact that we're virtually helpless to do anything at all about it.  There are days like these when the beauty of the world is overshadowed by the suffering of people and other living beings, and we have to take them as they come and try to learn from them and grow to be better people because of them.

more thoughts and ideas on war

My Freedoms--A Paragraph a Day

This year's Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian civil rights activist who's in an Iranian prison, and who will stay there for the foreseeable future.  She's an incredibly courageous woman who isn't afraid to speak out against the current "leaders" of the country, no matter the personal danger to herself.  Her case and her courage make me think about the freedoms that I have in my day-to-day life, the choices that I'm able to make every single day without fear of being beaten and/or arrested for wearing the wrong clothes or not covering my hair or saying the wrong thing to the wrong person.  The freedoms that I have are many, no matter what limitations I also face, and it's important that I not just appreciate them, but that I take advantage of them to do things that can make a difference in this world.  In my case, I try to make the differences as a teacher and as a writer, and in both of those fields I know that I enjoy more freedoms than most people in the world enjoy, and I try to make those freedoms count in my efforts to pass on knowledge of the topics that I've studied deeply, and about which I've learned a lot myself.  If I don't take advantage of those freedoms, then I feel that I'm doing a great disservice to wonderfully courageous human beings like Narges Mohammadi.  I can't go over to Iran and get her and others out of prison or change their life situations to make their lives better, but I can do my best to take advantage of the freedoms that I do have to try to make this world a better place, even in the slightest of ways.

Other People's Judgment--A Paragraph a Day

It always amazes me just how strongly we find other people's judgment to be important.  We worry about what other people think about our hair, our clothing, our cars, our homes, our sexuality, our relationships, our jobs, our favorite songs or movies. . . and on and on and on.  I have to wonder what life would be like if none of us worried about things like that, if we just lived our lives in the ways we see to be best and right for us, and didn't concern ourselves with the judgment of others.  Of course, I'm not talking about having everyone feel free to murder others or harm them in any way, but about the stress we cause ourselves by worrying about what other people think.  My boss coming over for dinner isn't a cause of stress--my worries about what he's going to think about my home and family cause that stress.  And yes, there are areas of out lives in which other people's judgment can cause us to lose a job or to have a manuscript rejected or to decide not to date us or marry us, but for the most part, other people's judgment, I think, should stay with those other people.  I really shouldn't allow its shadow to darken my life when there's so much sunshine to experience over here.

More thoughts and ideas on judgment

Taking Things for Granted--A Paragraph a Day

Often when I'm teaching my World Studies course we learn about people living in cultures that have very few of the luxuries that we tend to take for granted.  In this world today, there are millions of people living without electricity in their homes, without running water in their homes, without hope for jobs that would allow them to improve their situations.  There are millions of people without families, without the opportunity to go to school, without enough food to meet their nutritional needs today.  Yes, today.  Twenty-five thousand people on this planet will die of starvation or starvation-related causes today.  Knowing these things, I can let them overwhelm me and get a feeling of hopelessness that could make me very unhappy, or I can use this knowledge to help me to foster my appreciation for the things that I do have, the blessings that are present in my life in so many ways.  I obviously can't ignore the fact that there's much misery in the world, and I do my best with my limited resources to contribute to bettering the world, but I can't do it all.  What I can do is not squander the gifts by not appreciating them.  I can allow gratitude to be an important part of my life and not take for granted anything that I have.

Some Situations Just Aren't Winnable--A Paragraph a Day

One of the problems that I have with a lot of the self-help literature that's out there is the rather naive idea that we can thrive in virtually any situation, that we can come out winners no matter what kinds of obstacles we face or what kind of curve balls life throws us.  The simple truth is, though, that some situations are simply awful, and we're going to be lucky to get through them unscathed.  Some people choose to act in awful ways, and they may do their best to harm us.  Yes, we can learn from these situations and people, and yes, we can come out of whatever harm they cause us as better people, but we're certainly not going to thrive and we don't necessarily have to try to enjoy them--they are what they are and they've become a part of our lives, but that doesn't mean that there's a way to make them somehow enjoyable.  I prefer to try to understand what each situation is bringing me, be it treasure or garbage or even tedium, and then react appropriately by enjoying it, pulling myself out of it, or simply accepting it and rolling with it.  I appreciate the writers of most self-help material, but I do believe that they do us a disservice when they try to convince us that every moment brings us treasure, and that it's up to us to uncover it.  Usually, there's very little treasure to be discovered at the bottom of a pile of garbage.

Here. Now. --A Paragraph a Day

As you walk and eat and travel, be where you are.
Otherwise you will miss most of your life.   ~the Buddha

Where am I right now?  What's around me?  How many of us can answer that question truthfully and fully for most of the moments we experience?  It's so easy to be so busy and so distracted that we become blind to all of the beauty and kindness that's always present in our lives, and to believe those other people in our lives who tell us that life is stressful and frustrating and difficult and unfair.  But if we can just be aware of our present moments, if we can just stop now and then and look around and listen and feel to make sure we're not missing something normally wonderful, then we can add something profoundly moving to our lives.  Right here and right now are the only moments of our lives that we have to actually live, and that's something that we really need to take advantage of if we're to make the most of these lives that we have.