Posted: Monday, 28 December 2009 10:25AM
War Is Over If You Want It
Steve Corbett Reporting
Monday, December 28, 2009
Eat.
Drink.
Sleep.
Laugh.
Cry.
Live.
Love.
Most of us pass through this existence as fully as we can. Most of us follow the law of the land and live by the rules. Most of us are good people.
We’re not criminals who plot and plan to steal. We’re not deceitful elected and appointed public servants who use the public trust for our own benefit. We’re not unethical business crooks who make millions through lies.
Most of us try to do the best we can.
Of course we can all use some work at becoming kinder, smarter and more willing to help each other through bad times. Increasingly uncivil discourse and personal attacks against each other have climbed to alarming levels.
The unwillingness to explore ideas different from our own indicates a laziness that shows in our work and our inability to get along with others. The antagonism that comes with ego-driven self-absorbed self-assuredness embarrasses us as a species and decreases the blessed chance to learn from each other.
Still, we’re mostly decent people who ask for little and usually get it. But a little can mean a lot.
As the holiday season shifts into a new year, we have a great opportunity to re-evaluate what we have done during the past 12 months. We can gauge our own personal progress. We can see if we have remained true to a personal code of honor while others have violated the vows of neighborliness, marriage, relationships and other sacred societal bonds.
Each of us should ask if we are nice enough people. Are we simply nice to others? Do we care that people’s feelings might be hurt by personal attacks on the way they live and think? Are we mindful of the harm we do without even knowing we’re hurting others?
Survival isn’t easy for many people. Struggle and suffering often overwhelms those who are out of work, hungry, scared, alone and felling abandoned.
If we’re fortunate enough to enjoy the basic pleasures of life, what can we do that might help others who lack the homey comforts we enjoy? What might we do that can help people simply feel better in a world that spins chaotically amid the madness?
Be nice.
It’s nice to be nice.
The mission to alleviate the plight of civilization we all share has a better chance of succeeding if we welcome the challenge and embrace even enemies in the mystery of co-existence.
Be aware of the danger of debate. But also be aware of the outcome that might benefit us all. Talk with your enemies. Share your differences. Don’t take the exchange so personally.
Ask for help. Be willing to give help in return. Ask those with whom you have differences, “What can I do to help you?” Ask, “What do you want?” Ask “what would you like?”
You might be surprised at how little you have to give to improve what previously might have been considered a lost cause.
We can’t save the world all at once. But we can save our own little piece of the planet with some basic peace of mind. Improve yourself while you work to improve others. Listen more to other people. Ask sincere questions to find out exactly what other people believe and why they believe it.
Ask yourself what you believe.
And, above all, breathe.
Consciously inhale the sweet oxygen that feeds our existence and fuels our lives. Consciously exhale that vital life energy that rejuvenates our time on this Earth.
Eat.
Drink.
Sleep.
Laugh.
Cry.
Live.
Love.
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Corbett
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