Individual Progress Can't Hurt

Professor J,

My guess is that lots of Romans were probably screaming in the background of the pages of history about what was going on in their day. I imagine that they would instantly recognize your frustration in our own time. They'd probably also be shocked to see that we haven't learned all that much in a couple of thousand years other than stabbing your colleagues on the steps of the Senate is a bad political move and watching some guy put a ball in a hoop is more civilized than watching him get eaten by a lion.

Little victories. ;)

Over the weekend I had an opportunity to think about how often we participate in our own destruction, culturally and personally. So much of what is ailing us are little things that have massive cumulative effects over time. In my last post I referred (hopefully humorously) to the constant and persistent tug on our attention. It sometimes feels like a herculean task to focus on the important without being distracted by the ridiculous (though thanks to our politicians the two often merge). In addition to our succumbing to advertising campaigns for things that are unhealthy at best and poisonous at worst, we neglect real relationship in favor of pseudo connections, escapism, and fantasy. We desire to be left alone to enjoy our various gadgets when we desperately need deep human connection. We opt for the contrived environment of indoors with curtains drawn, surrounded by our piles of stuff when mental and emotional as well as a good bit of physical healing could be obtained out of doors.

Then on top of all that, we are blind to our actions and their effects.

It isn't this decision or the other sinks us, but the cumulative effect of bad decisions over time. In contrast doing the small things that are good for us day in and day out over the years makes a vast difference in our health and mental and emotional well being. But alas, as we've discussed before we are a very short sighted nation and our seeming inability to delay gratification often leads to quickly throwing in the towel and meeting the desire of whatever the want of NOW is. Often this behavior has rippling effects on others which we are unaware of.

If we isolate ourselves, we lend to the isolation of others and the society as a whole. Our attitudes and ideas about things have a power even before they are an action. Positive, creative, enthusiastic individuals will make up a society that reflects those things. We could substitute anything for those: healthy, inspiring, problem solving, thinking, emotionally stable, mentally keen, helpful, kind, focused. Just as the small decisions have a cumulative effect over time being the best individual possible would have an aggregate effect over a group.

We like to complain about the way things are and what everyone else is doing, yet we mustn't forget to be the best version of ourselves may be one of the most powerful things we can do to initiate the change we want.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I feel all the better for having gotten it off my chest! :)

What specifically is it that those Scandinavians have going for them that we don't get? It's worth investigating since they also routinely rank among the happiest countries in the world according to the World Happiness Report.

I had trouble labeling this post. I didn't know if it went in EVERY category or none of them...maybe we need one labeled "connections" or "stuff we don't know what to do with."  LOL