On a More Positive Note

It can be challenging to discuss our shared problems, whether they be local, national or global, without being negative, or even out-right depressed. The news is full of what appears to be insurmountable issues, from partisan politics, to ideological wars, to actual wars, to climate change. It is virtually impossible to find positive spins on our shared obstacles but plenty of comments on who is at fault.

So, certainly not being blameless in this area, I thought I might create a post with a more hopeful message. To start, I reviewed some of my past posts that were upbeat. Here are links to four of them that I enjoyed writing, and rereading.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2019/06/happiness.html

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2017/01/seeking-silver-lining-2.html

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-future-of-politics.html

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2014/05/celebrating-milestone-and-future.html

Next, I turned to the July edition of National Geographic which featured a cover page with the words "Chasing the Unknown" and multiple articles on people who are doing just that, including another chapter in the ongoing Out of Eden Walk being conducted for the last ten years by Paul Salopek.

Within its pages are inspiring accounts of people who you will never see on a reality show, never see on the front page of a tabloid newspaper, perhaps never even read about despite their unique accomplishments, yet who never the less are adding to the data base of human knowledge in ways that may not be popularized yet may still effect generations to come. The literal unsung heroes of our time who toil in obscurity, yet accomplish such great achievements.

Men and women who spend large swaths of their lives researching the very first cave paintings, painstakingly unearthing the delicate bones of our unknown ancestors, or living with endangered animals in hopes of learning enough about their ways and needs towards reintroducing them into their native habitats. 

What is especially uplifting is that so many of these people are young, meaning under 35, with an incredibly diverse set of traits. Whether born in the US or abroad, they represent a wide range of cultural backgrounds, and a plethora of experiences upon which to improve their environments or those of the people they have chosen to help.

Reading about them, and realizing that despite their differences, gender, race, ancestry, etc, they share the belief that by making a positive impact, person by person (or even animal by animal) they make the world better, if even by just that much. It is both heartening and energizing. Imagine if that was the ultimate goal of every human. 

Have a problem with your government, imagine living in a country where education itself is illegal for girls over 12 years of age, as is true in Afghanistan. Now imagine spending your life teaching those young women, both surreptitiously in Afghanistan, and in a Rwanda where you have founded a school for that precise reason. Makes all our efforts seem insignificant!

There are times when I think that those who control the media, our political parties, even our religious institutions, prefer that we are always on edge, nervous, more attentive to the negative. As if, once they have convinced us how bad things are, they can tell us how they hold the only truth, how only they can lead us to happiness. Which, if it were that simple, would be one thing, but it seems that most of those in power at our media outlets, political parties, and pulpits, are more interested in telling us who to blame, as opposed to who we can help.

At the end of the movie Evan Almighty, "God" defines the ark as an acronym, Act of Random Kindness. It is His message and task to Evan, and one which he hopes Evan will share with the world. 

It seems that there are more people who are in need of assistance, physical, emotional, spiritual, than who offer such assistance. Wouldn't it be great if the opposite were true, that there was just not enough of those in need as compared to those willing to give? 

It all starts with that person you see in the mirror everyday. Help convince that image that helping someone, even if just by bringing a meal to an ailing neighbor, or getting a grocery item from the top shelf for a shorter person, or simply just smiling and saying hi to people you encounter as you navigate your life, creates positive energy and shifts the balance ever so slightly. You never know when such a random act of kindness will domino itself into a truly remarkable act of humanity towards someone you may never meet, but who will be grateful none the less.