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When the world is crazy, do what you can, when you can
When the world is falling apart, we can feel helpless, abandoned, and useless. We sit watching the news wondering what possibly we can do to make the world a better place. Instead of acting, we doomscroll ourselves into a mental health crisis.
As I recently posted to Twitter, it seems so much of human history is the world trying to defend itself against a man who wants to be a god. Once again, we seem to find ourselves in this historical trap. One man has led others over the cliff of war into the valley of death — and they must be stopped.
Unfortunately, as an individual, there seem few immediate, significant, actions that we can take. For the most part, we rely on those we have elected to power — or others have elected to power — to, hopefully, follow our desires in the actions they take at the global level. We are isolated from many direct actions and that can lead to frustration and anger. There is a great need to direct that anger in useful ways.
Do Something
There are many reasons to take whatever small actions we can, when we can take them, as an independent act of hope and action in the world. Will it solve the problem? Probably not., But it does one important thing for us. It gives us some, if suspect, feeling that we are taking some action and having some effect.
We need these small feelings of action to lead us to larger actions. We can’t bring ourselves to go out and march in protest if we don’t have small actions to spur us forward. It can seem silly, I know, but the small actions give us hope that something can change. If we fall victim to our depression and helplessness, nothing happens and nothing changes.
People will often laugh at us and others and call the small actions ineffectual, but the power of these actions goes far beyond the action themselves. By doing something, anything, we overcome the inertia of hopelessness and this allows us to do even bigger things.
Could you be doing more? Of course, but you have to start somewhere. There has to be some small stop along the road that starts the long journey to peace, to help, to a better world. Don’t let others’ scoffing prevent you from doing something. In my thought, it is always better to do something than nothing. That something often leads to something bigger and more important.
Do what you can?
It is always important to remember that we each have our individual abilities to take action. Some may use social media. Some may March. Some may even fight, but only you can decide how much you can do. If you can’t fight, you can act as a medic. If you can’t do that, you can help with logistics. If you can’t do that, you can help to feed people and assist refugees. You can engage in diplomacy both direct and through social media. Finally, all of us can work and not support be countries, businesses, individuals, that are perpetuating evil. There is always something we can do.
Another very important action is to tell your governmental representatives exactly what you want to happen. Tell them what policies you would like to see. Tell them which sanctions you want them to use. Join with others to reinforce these sanctions and policies so that your representatives have a clear idea of what their constituents desire. You may not be able to execute change directly but you can add pressure to move the world in the direction you wish. Even the most recalcitrant representative can change when our collective voice is loud enough.
For your psyche and soul and the betterment of the world as a whole, take whatever small action you can whenever you can. I hope that will lead you to bigger actions with more impact over time and lead to the changes you and others most desire.
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