There's a lot of bad news right now. There's the struggle for safety and freedom in Afghanistan, the challenge to save lives in the face of a deadly pandemic throughout the world, raging fires and other natural disasters, senseless violence, the drain that ignorance brings to issues and potential, the plight of the impoverished, displaced, oppressed, and outcast, deadly disinformation campaigns, and the deadly, painful results of bigotry, hate, crime, and greed.
What do we do in the face of this sadness?
First, the truth is that this sadness and despair has always existed. Throughout time people have been plagued by troubles. Yet, in many circumstances, people have worked together to make better and to rise from those troubled circumstances.
Also, it is true that the media often sensationalizes and repeats the terrible events of life when there are far more good events and good people out there.
Yet, we cannot ignore the horrors that are happening, and we must find ways to make better. How do we do that?
Start by making sure that your own house is in order. Are you loving and caring for those in your family, neighborhood, and greater community. What can you do there to lift lives?
Then examine your capacity--are you using your talents, energy, and skills in ways that are positive and life enriching? How might you do that more.
And, are you staying informed by reading and watching a number of different news channels, newspapers, books, and videos or are you responding to sound bites alone without any deep consideration of the issues at hand and what you might do to create positive change and impact.
In many ways society is steeped in the kind of complexity that welcomes greedy propaganda and stalls good honest information and work. We have to figure out how to streamline our systems of decision making and communication to make sure good information is accessible to people and so that change can occur to better lives.
There will always be bad news, but that is not a reason to give up. Instead it is a reason to get active in ways that make better. What will you do? What will I do?