Maybe you need the reminder as much as I do: there is good in this world.
Not all of humanity is selfish. Not everyone is miserable. Ignorance, fear and anger are contagious, sure, but so is kindness, compassion and laughter.
There is goodness happening all around us all the time, even if you’re seeing less of it. Be mindful where you’re looking.
Given the state of the world around us, even in our little bubble of Wellington County, we need to do our part to create the kind of communities we want to live in.
One of the hazards of my job is that I spend entirely too much time online, watching social media, seeing neighbours hurling insults at each other, at their local politicians (because we’d all know how to do it better, smarter, cheaper if only we had power, but like, we don’t want the responsibility. Plus, we’d have to deal with online hatred too. Yeah, let those hacks do it.)
Watching neighbours pick online fights under the guise of “entitled to my opinion” is exhausting.
And I never thought I would live in a time where it is in vogue to hate the media, but here we are and here I am. It’s not even clever anymore. It’s redundant.
If I am a sheep, these people are parrots. Now that’s funny. See? Laughter.
Imagine if we took the time spent on anger rants and soapbox serenades and did something useful, like, oh, I don’t know, ran errands for a senior, or helped the mom of a child with special needs so she could get the break she so surely needs, or maybe joined a service club or volunteered for a local charity.
Or read a Canadian history book to polish up on facts.
We all have hard days and frustrations. Why not get offline and make friends with your misery until it subsides, instead of waking up just to spread the hostility in your temporarily-angry heart?
Because this life, your emotions, the storms, they pass.
Get a grip. Or get help. No shame in healing. But stop kicking everyone else with your self-righteous banter.
Look up from your phones and pay attention. The good stuff isn’t on there. In my case, the good showed up at the end of our driveway during the wild winter weather we’ve experienced over the past few weeks. It showed up not once, but several times.
Our neighbourhood angels appeared, without request, to help tackle the deep snow.
I’m grateful for the kindness of Scott with his snowblower, and Dave with his riding snowplow, and Dennis who clears snow on contract all over town, but always scrapes the edge of our driveway with his tractor as he passes by.
None of these people needed to help us. We are able-bodied. We have shovels. But that’s not the point, is it?
Community. Neighbours. Kindness. People watching out for one another, as opposed to watching one another. You see the difference.
Don’t buy the hype of those hyper for attention. There is still good in the world. Look for it. Better yet, be it.
Majority rules.
