Wow! …. what a time we live in. Turning on the television can be scary for fear of what we might see and hear on the news. The daily story is often repeated throughout the day with significant tragedy often involving mass shootings, acts of terror or natural disasters of late. My initial feelings are often over whelming and the pit of my stomach aches making it easier at times to not watch or even want to hear the news. If we want a of sign of our times; we have got it. The loss of human lives through pointless and meaningless violence is pointing us in a direction we need to investigate to see how we can affect the future starting today. Instead of letting events occur without taking note, saying a prayer, or wishing for things to change we could use each event as a springboard for ourselves to be propelled into the future with more love, kindness and compassion for our fellow humans.
In retrospect where I have been, what I have experienced and how I have changed brings me to today, every day, still holding out hope and feeling love for all humans and the life I have been blessed enough to be given. Every significant event in each of our lives helps to form who we are and what we believe to be important. They are “springboards” from where we can leap from into the future we want to see. It is an opportunity to depart from what isn’t working and embrace a new thought or action that could be beneficial to overall change for the better. At least that is how I have learned to cope in my life from my own trails and errors, events and circumstances that have occurred.
How we feel and how we act, are in fact, personnel choices:decisions. This is a fundamental idea that seems lost in the shuffle of more recent impulsive and immediate behavioral displays that the current world has produced as a bi-product. Our human essence is being ravaged by the modern world and “advancements” that have not been thought-out regarding the consequences that ultimately can remove us from our very sense of self. It is affecting our human condition that is being ignored. And we are moving away from the personnel sense of self and the responsibility of being human on this planet that sustains our lives. It is not hopeless, but it is very scary given our current social climate. The social fibers are unraveling, and fundamental needs are going unmet or unrecognized.
The good news is we can make a difference in how we think, what we feel, and how we act. Through love and kindness, we provide a window of hope for those who might not feel it or see it. Through compassion for one and other we spread a sense of connectedness that humans thrive on. We are responsible for ourselves, yet our current atmosphere doesn’t seem to nurture that self-knowledge. My hopes and prayers for our future, our children’s future and their children as well is that love and kindness prevail first and foremost in any initiated change for a better tomorrow.
I could go on and on stating what I think are the “best” solutions for our future but I won’t. I will hold tight to my ideas but pray that the melting pot that America has always been will cook up some ideas that can make our children’s future our greatest investment while providing a safe environment to learn. No one has died in vain if we use the recent events as a springboard. My hat is off to the young survivors who are speaking out and demanding change. May we as adults embrace their desires with respect and support joining them in creating a safer future for everyone. And continue to shine with love and hope.
-Kat
I love to hike. I used to trail run every day now I hike every day and occasionally run. Living Tucson and in the high country of the White Mountains of Arizona allows me to have two very different and diverse places to explore. I see it as a blessing. I try to take advantage of each diverse location. As all of us hikers know it’s true …. something magical happens to us when we are out in wide open outdoor spaces surrounded by nature. I feel as if I am part of the environment I am exploring and just soak it all up.
Wild side of 50 