We bemoan the state of politics, the environment, the average American household, the workplace, college and professional sports, the education system, and virtually everything else in our lives. We tune in to Fox news or MSNBC to reinforce our view that the world is going to hell and WE are not the problem. Teachers blame parents, parents blame the administration, the administration blames the voters, and the voters blame the teachers. We yearn for the “good ole’ days”, whether they really existed or not. We all do it. It is not accurate. It does not help.
There is only one way to break this endless cycle of finger pointing and responsibility dodging, and that is to be honest with ourselves. We need to listen as much as we talk. We need to be still as much as we are active. We need to stop telling ourselves that we are “doing our best”. We aren’t. We may be doing as much as we feel we need to or as much as we feel we are able to, but we are seldom doing our best. Congress wouldn’t have a single-digit approval rating if we were all doing our best. Our nation wouldn’t have tens of millions of people living below poverty if we were doing our best. The environment wouldn’t be at a tipping point if we were doing our best. Suicide rates would not have increased every year since 2006 if we were all doing our best.[i] We can never do our best unless we are honest with ourselves each and every day. We need to assess soberly our actions and own our short comings. We also need to acknowledge our successes and nurture them to provide the sustenance to continue. It all begins with “us”.
It won’t be easy. But, we have no choice. If we do not want to live in a world of failing everything we and only we can make it happen. This can either be an overwhelmingly terrifying realization or a joyous epiphany. We have the power. Further, only WE have the power! We need to look inward not outward for solutions. We need to be the best Mom, Student, Teacher, Neighbor, and Citizen that we can be. If we are falling off a bit, which happens from time to time, we need to acknowledge this and honestly assess what we could be doing differently. Another year or century of blaming Wall Street or Washington or immigrants or whatever the scapegoat du jour is will only end with misery. We can take control of our lives, but to do so we need to be honest with ourselves. We need to get proper sleep and food. We need to be able to exercise all of our rights. We need to watch less television and spend more time with our family and friends. We need to walk more and drive less. We need to only take medicines that are essential. We need to honor ourselves and our spiritual guides. We need to be firm yet kind. We need to be hopeful yet determined. What are you going to do today to make the world better? What can you and I do together?
[i] American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/
