At a time when our country, or rather the whole world, is at its wit’s end, I have more to gripe about than ever before. So, it proved quite serendipitous when Rachel asked me if I would be willing to give my former column a little kick in the proverbial pants.
With that said, I’m baaack! I’ve missed my column ferociously and am honored to have the privilege to be a part of the #Strella site once again.
Divided We Stand
Like nearly everyone else, I, too, am at my wit’s end. Everywhere you look, there seems to be a massive sense of division in our UNITED States of America. Whether it’s because of politics, personal anxieties, or the current state of this country, we’re encountering people who seem to be in it for themselves.
I’m here to gripe to you about just that.
In recent months, we’ve been bombarded with nothing but bad news. Stay-at-home orders, self-quarantines, and fear are not helping our delicate psyches or our sense of community. We live in a world today where people are fist-fighting over toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and face masks.
For those of my generation, this has been the strangest year in our brief histories. Never before have we heard the word “pandemic” thrown around as much as we have in 2020. While anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and self-harm are at an all-time high, it begs the question, “How do we function normally when nothing is normal?”
What It Will Take to Turn Things Around
Unfortunately, there is no cut and dry answer to that question at a time when the nation’s health is in crisis. However, with some introspection, we can assess if we as individuals are functioning as the best versions of ourselves.
- Are we contributing to the greater good, or are we furthering the divide?
- How do we serve our communities and, in turn, ourselves when we’re limited in our ability to interact with others on a grand scale?
Fortunately, we all still have the ability to be good people. We can put away the hateful and spiteful attitudes that we see crop up like wildfires on social media. We can help our fellow man. There is no better time than right now to follow the iconic words of The Beatles and “come together.”
Whether resisting when someone tries to goad us into heated Facebook debates or helping an older person claim a pack of toilet paper at the grocery store, we can still thrive. Sure, everyone is scared—me included—but that doesn’t mean we have to devolve into our “lizard brain” selves. We can still be helpful. We can still do something to brighten someone’s day.
While it would be fun to gripe about this topic until the day is done, I’ve decided to take the high road. My simple message is to urge my fellow humans to work on being kind to each other every day. As the virus, political parties, and world protests try to keep us apart, we must come together to beat back the darkness.
It is too easy to be the person who fails every day at being a good person when we’re faced with constant negativity. It’s time to overcome that with positive action. For example, do an anonymous and contact-free drop-off of some goodies at a local shelter or pick up the phone and call a friend that may be in crisis. We can all do our part to better the country’s dismal state—and the work isn’t all that hard.
What are you doing to retain your sense of self and goodwill during these trying times?
