Keep some perspective
I sat in my mother’s kitchen once and complained to her about a problem I had. I was certain doom awaited if I couldn’t solve it. She listened until I’d talked myself out, then in her sweet, matter-of-fact way said, “It’s all right; that’s what everybody worries about in their 30s.”
Really? Hadn’t I made myself clear? This was bad, it was dire, it was bigger than the both of us.
But of course it wasn’t; I don’t even remember now what had me so worked up. What I do remember is mom’s message: Keep some perspective.
In a world filled with noise and polarizing influences, that’s what I’m trying to do — keep some perspective. It isn’t easy. The challenges we face together are much bigger than any problem I discussed with my mom. At times I feel paralyzed. I don’t want to be slow in responding to serious issues, but I don’t want to rush in waving my pitchfork either.
I don’t believe every meme I read. I question sources and headlines. Like everyone else, I wade through the spin and the competing narratives, then try to glean the facts from what’s left behind.
When we look at the past, we find that societies inevitably exhibit a certain amount of polarization; people don’t agree. The challenge is to be decent about how we disagree and honest about why.
I’ve made a handful of close friends in my life. Many of them would disagree about popular talking points, but they have one thing in common — they’re gut-check people, the kind who stay close when things go wrong. If I needed a kidney, I believe some of them would volunteer for a match test.
When the doctors conferred about the results of those tests, they’d find no check box on the paperwork to indicate political affiliation. I wouldn’t need a left- or a right-leaning kidney.
I’d need a kidney that didn’t reject me.
In a clickbait economy, inflammatory rhetoric sells. But when the ash settles, we still need each other. If Hollywood’s got it right and a zombie apocalypse/alien invasion is on the way, we might as well practice productive problem-solving now and save ourselves some time.
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