Hey there, dear Beautiful Mess-Makers!
If you’re reading this, you’re here and alive, and that’s a pretty big deal. Sometimes, I need to remind myself of that. As an Olympic-level control freak, I have to admit I’m not thriving lately.
Most of the time, I do my best to convince myself that I’ve got a firm handle on the events of the day; that my preparation, competency, and sheer will will all sustain and shield me from too much chaos.
It’s a comforting illusion when it holds—and lately, it ain’t.
These spectacularly chaotic days are a reminder that I’m not as invulnerable or in command as I’d like to be, and I don’t like that feeling.
Right now, you, too, may be facing the frustration of seeing so much that feels beyond your control. There is a helplessness that compassionate people feel witnessing the kind of wide-scale suffering that seems impossible to hold, and that’s because it is. The transgressions of the powerful and the wounds they inflict are too numerous and pervasive to attend to completely.
But that doesn’t mean we still can’t be in control inside the chaos. Our agency is found in our choices, in the infinitesimal decisions we make in how we spend our time, use our voices, and engage the world around us.
The only real control we have is in how we decide to show up in the world, no matter what the condition of that world is.
Today, resist the temptation to be disheartened by the pain in your path, the cruelty you come across, or the hatred that seems to be winning.
Inventory what is within your control and choose wisely.
You’re alive. That’s really good news…
0 comments