Being the Solution

“To choose hope is to step firmly forward into the howling wind, baring one’s chest to the elements, knowing that, in time, the storm will pass.” —Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Let’s try a little experiment. Spend ten or twenty minutes perusing the news. Turn on the television news, scroll through one or more online news sites, reputable or other, go through your Facebook feed. However you want to do it doesn’t matter. The point isn’t to get really accurate news, the point is more to expose yourself to what the media is showcasing and mindfully observe what comes up for you. What bodily sensations, mental images, feelings, thoughts do you observe as you expose yourself to what is happening in our communities, in our country, in the world?

I know for me, the vast majority of what is reported locally, nationally, and in the world affects me greatly. Sometimes it’s physical, I feel a pit in my stomach, agitation rising in my body, adrenaline going through my limbs. I sometimes have mental images of my kids and the horrible things that could happen, what the world they inherit might look like. I feel anger, fear, sadness, despair, hopelessness. And I think that the world is just falling apart, that bad things are upon us and are getting worse. The what-ifs get going and they’re hard to stop.

It is impossible to exist in the real world and separate yourself completely from the social and political climate, the wars, the interpersonal violence, the tragedy that happens every day and is eagerly reported in the news. It is easy to feel affected by the stories, perhaps impossible to not be affected by the stories.

Believe it or not, that is actually a good thing. That is our innate compassion and sense of human connection kicking in. It is evidence that most of us in the world are actually good, compassionate people who feel each others’ pain, who despair at the suffering of others, who band together in the aftermath of tragedy, and who truly want to help. That is who we truly are as human beings— interdependent, compassionate, caring people who even in our highly individualized societies can still access our common human bond.

It’s easy to forget this when the media is working so hard to make us think we are constantly on the edge of destruction. I realize that there are terrible things happening all over the world, and I realize that there are real problems that must be addressed. I have also lived long enough to see that this reality is a constant presence. There has never been a time in my life, nor I expect in anyone else’s, when there haven’t been frightening political situations, wars, interpersonal violence, recessions, poverty, etc. surrounding us.

The question is, what do we do? What can one person sitting here at a computer possibly offer this world with it’s suffering, that could actually change anything?

This is where Archbishop Tutu’s words about hope become helpful. I love his quote about “stepping firmly into the howling wind…knowing that, in time, the storm will pass.” Our first step is simply to allow ourselves to step into the howling wind and to be in the storm. We don’t have to do anything huge, which is reassuring because the reality is that none of us has the power to actually change the distressing happenings in the world. We don’t need to find the solution. Rather, we need to be in the world and BE the solution.

There is a Jewish concept called, in Hebrew, Tikkun Olam, which translates to repair of the world. It’s defined as acts of kindness performed to perfect or repair the world, with some emphasis on social policy and safeguarding those at a disadvantage (from learningtogive.org). Many Jewish denominations think of it as an aspiration to act constructively and in a beneficial manner.

Tikkun Olam is telling us is that what we can to do repair the world is to simply behave in ways that benefit others and benefit the world, perform acts of kindness, and particularly direct these actions toward those who truly need them.

When I think about this, I think about how incredibly easy this is. There are very simple ways we can be kind and benefit the world. When we walk down the street instead of looking down, we can look at people and make eye contact with a friendly face. Smile and say hello, not just to those we know but also to total strangers. Be friendly, chat with strangers sitting next to us or waiting with us at the elevator. Get to know the person who serves our coffee every morning on a first-name basis and greet him/her by name every morning. Chat with the folks who work and shop in our supermarkets, attend our health clubs. Wave and say thank you to drivers who stop at cross walks to let us pass, or drivers who let us cut in. The opportunities are truly infinite.

How does this help, you may wonder? It’s very easy to minimize the impact we can have on other people and eventually on the world. We are each just one person, after all. Think about some of the huge movements that have changed our country and perhaps even the world, though. They were started by one or just a few individuals who had a vision. The movements grew because of ripple effects, each act by one person affected another, which affected another, and it grew. There is no reason that a movement based solely in kindness, compassion, and a common human bond can’t change how large groups of people relate to each other.

What we are doing when we begin to interact with the world in this manner as a consistent practice is simply helping to unearth our common human bond. We don’t need to create a common human bond, nor do we need to create a compassionate world. We already have the seeds for these things. We simply need to allow ourselves to experience that bond, to cultivate it, and share it with others.

Now let’s try another experiment. Do some of the things described above. Once we’ve tried that, maybe take it a little further and bring lunch or snacks to the homeless person we see every day holding a sign asking for help. Offer to push the shopping cart for the mom struggling to get the cart and her three kids to the car. Help the poor kid dragging the overflowing garbage bin across the parking lot to the dumpster as we are sitting in the drive through line.

While you do some of these things, observe how you feel. What physical sensations, mental images, feelings, and thoughts come up? For me, I’ve felt physical lightness, like a weight lifting off. I’ve seen the relief and gratitude in those I’ve helped. I’ve imagined that perhaps what I did lightened their loads just a little bit, perhaps brought them a brief sense of dignity. I’ve felt grateful for the opportunity to be of service, to connect with another being. I’ve actually felt the human connection and felt less alone and lonely during lonely times. I’ve also thought that in paying it forward perhaps that ripple effect would take place and several other people would benefit from the small act that started with me.

It’s easy, and tempting, to lose hope when we are exposed to, or even assaulted by, such negativity on a moment to moment basis. If hope really is being willing to bare our chests to the elements knowing that this storm will pass, then by deciding to bare our compassionate and connected souls to the negativity we can hold on to our own sense of hope and maybe even help repair the world.

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