Choose
Wisely
“Do the
things you believe in, in the name of love. And know that you aren't
alone. We all have doubts and fears.”
Carole
King
There are so many good
causes, aren't there? So much need, and all of it urgent. People in
famine, children who've never known life without war, terrible
education systems, social justice issues involving race and gender
and poverty and privilege. So much legitimate suffering, so many
clamoring for help. And, when we can't do it all, or anything
substantial, we feel guilty. We doubt our own hearts, our own
capacity for compassion.
When I was a younger
woman, I jumped right into the middle of almost any injustice. I wore
myself to a frazzle trying to win the battles of inequality. I think
young people have more courage, as well as more passion and energy.
Naivety is an asset. Since you don't know what you can't do, you just
do it. Even if your actions don't change the inequities, they shine a
light on them. They create the conditions in which other people are forced
to see them, and eventually, to deal with them differently. We all
have a role to play. The wheels of change sometimes move slowly—one
inch at a time. Each generation adds something. Like adding threads to a tapestry, social change takes place one layer at a time.
As we learn more about the world, how it works, how easily it breaks your heart, we aren't as courageous. We get more careful at choosing our battles;
at deciding which causes mean the most to us. It's okay to
thoughtfully consider the things in which to invest your heart, your
time, and your energy. You don't have to feel guilty over not being
able to do it all. It makes sense, at least to me, to do only the
things you can do with conviction. Put to rest your doubts and fears,
and your guilt. Do what you can do with great love, and that will be
sufficient.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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