And if you cannot remain indifferent, you must resolve to throw your weight into that balance in which the fate and condition of man is weighed. -- Lajos KossuthWhat a difficult choice it is to stand up and do what is right. How scary is it to risk important security blankets of your thoughts, words and deeds that you have surrounding you. How utterly frightening it can be to cope with a change that gets thrust upon you. It can feel like a sucker-punch to the guts—painful and lasting—slowly mending if it ever completely does. If you’ve ever had bruised ribs, compare the pain and healing involved.
So much of how we react is tied into the personality of people. The same incident may want different responses to heal it—curl up in a ball, cry, grow angry, feel physical sickness, punch something--personally done them all, sometimes over the same conflict.
But after the initial reaction wears off, what do you do? Well I would look closely at Lajos Kossuth’s quote that I led with. Quit thinking of yourself and start thinking about others, how to improve the conditions of the planet and the human beings that have to live on it. Many of them truly are suffering and are abused and hungry and sick.
Or, I suppose you could remain indifferent. But before you decide that course, Google Biafra, Auschwitz or your local food bank.
Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva; September 19, 1802 – March 20, 1894 was a Hungarian lawyer, journalist, politician and Regent-President of Hungary in 1849. He was widely honored during his lifetime, including in the United Kingdom and the United States, as a freedom fighter and bellwether of democracy in Europe.
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1 comment:
It's temporary. What usually works is to acknowledge the thoughts and feelings, observe them, sit with them, don't judge them as good or bad, and let go. They will pass and you can move on.
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