August Augmented

The Bottom Line

I've written a wordy newsletter yet again.  Next month I have plans for ways to implement these ideas, and I'm excited to share them. 

For now, if there is only one thing you get a chance to read here, please let it be the last few paragraphs.

The State of Things

There is so much going on right now that it may appear to be getting worse with no end in sight.  Everyday there is a new story.  It's the same story, really, just with new players.  Another cycle.  However, there is more global awareness about what is going on and how people are living than there has ever been before.  With the internet and social media we have exposure to information and images that we have never had in the past.

The scales of equality are evening out.  But, with that will always come the people who desperately want to tip the scales back in the other direction.  The strong arms of those who oppose freedom, fear women with a voice and are terrified of knowledge.  It's the idea of two steps forward and one step back.  At this point, though, we have become too aware, seen too much and been too exposed to simply let the cycle continue as is.  There will never be another Holocaust, because the world would not let it happen.  Yes, there are still awful things being done to huge numbers of people.  There are things happening that make my heart sink, are difficult to hear about and make me want to cover my eyes.  Still I believe that everyday we are taking steps forward to stop it.  We are not pretending it doesn't exist or that it isn't a big deal.

My point here is not that bad things aren't happening, or that we live in a rosy, painless world.  I see the news and read the stories.  My point is that things are changing and we are becoming more globally aware.  We cannot go backwards, and if you truly believe that, then what are you still doing here?  I choose to see and recognize that the world as a force is moving toward love and away from fear.  A lot of other people are choosing to see that too.  So, hop on the train and try to move toward love.  You'll be much more effective to yourself and to others.

A Rant, A Hope, A Request

A week ago after the story broke about James Foley (the American journalist beheaded in Syria) I wrote a short rant comprised mostly of questions.  I won't share the rant in this newsletter, but I would like to share how I ended it.  (This is mostly free flow with very minimal editing):

My message is please don’t give up.  Please continue to love.  So many awful things are happening and it seems like the world is falling apart.  But for some crazy reason I feel like we’ll get through this cycle, as we always seem to do.  The parents of James Foley were asked if they had a message for his murderers.  It was this: “please have compassion, please have mercy.”  At no point did they express hate for extremist groups or the hope that they would suffer.  They spoke only of love and they asked only for compassion. 

When good people leave this world, I believe it is so they can leave behind a message and a call for action.  I believe it is so that a greater number of people can alter their own paths and in turn create more goodness than there initially was.  YES, that may seem like flowery tree hugging ethereal nonsense, but how else am I supposed to justify the world I live in and the things that are going on around me?  I have to believe there is a meaning.  A beautiful meaning hidden under the suffering.  Otherwise, what are any of us doing here?

Please find joy in every part of the free life you are living.  Find joy in the clear skies that are free of missiles.  Find joy in the home you know will still be there when you return from work, or when you wake up.  Find joy where you can.  We owe that much to everyone living in fear, without their freedom, shrouded in uncertainty.

Next up:

You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.

                                                                                               ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn