I'm starting with the man in the mirror,
I'm asking him to change his ways,
And no message could have been any clearer,
If you wanna make the world a better place,
Take a look at yourself and then make a change.
-Michael Jackson-
Lately I've spent a tremendous amount of time unhappy and in a worrisome state of mind. Unfortunately I've also discovered that the more I worry, the less happy I become. After a lot of reflection, it has become apparent to me that my unhappiness is caused by a pervasive sense of helplessness and hopelessness. I’m a worrier; and I worry about big things: the direction our country is taking, the continuing refusal by most people to admit that their actions are having a profound impact on the climate and our planet, the lack of love and concern shown by most people to those less fortunate than themselves, the avarice and greed of corporations around the world, and so on. I think that I become hopeless because deep down I realize that there’s nothing I can do to change or impact those situations and people. Hopelessness breeds inaction and lock-down, inaction breeds depression, depression breeds more hopelessness and helplessness, and the whole thing becomes a vicious downward spiral.
And no message could have been any clearer,
If you wanna make the world a better place,
Take a look at yourself and then make a change.
-Michael Jackson-
Lately I've spent a tremendous amount of time unhappy and in a worrisome state of mind. Unfortunately I've also discovered that the more I worry, the less happy I become. After a lot of reflection, it has become apparent to me that my unhappiness is caused by a pervasive sense of helplessness and hopelessness. I’m a worrier; and I worry about big things: the direction our country is taking, the continuing refusal by most people to admit that their actions are having a profound impact on the climate and our planet, the lack of love and concern shown by most people to those less fortunate than themselves, the avarice and greed of corporations around the world, and so on. I think that I become hopeless because deep down I realize that there’s nothing I can do to change or impact those situations and people. Hopelessness breeds inaction and lock-down, inaction breeds depression, depression breeds more hopelessness and helplessness, and the whole thing becomes a vicious downward spiral.
I have become convinced that the only way for me to break
out of this spiral is to become actively involved in change that has a chance
of succeeding. And in reality, there’s
only one person who I can directly influence toward change…me. I have so many areas in which I need to
change and grow: physical, intellectual, educational and spiritual. Even the task of changing just one person
seems so large as to be impossible, but I have faith that I can change. I just need to begin with a plan…
