Sharp Corners

Our dog died.  Our pipes are leaking.  Mice chewed the windshield washer tubes on my car.  Sam’s Club told us we had a problem with our bank account, but the problem was theirs.  It was just easier to let us think our account had been hacked.  Corporations and billionaires can push individuals around.  Recent TV programs are bracketed with ads for and against political candidates.  Many of the ads are paid for and slanted by individuals or groups working on a personal agenda instead of out of concern and respect for democracy or the good of the people and the land.  They do their best to manipulate instead of inform.

Some weeks are challenging.

It’s fall and we’re all turning corners.  It’s a time of letting go and moving on—or not.  Some of us will fall into dark pits where we will wallow in cynicism and negativity.  Some of us will try to control those around us to make ourselves feel stronger.  We grab others and drag them into the pit with us.  It’s dark down there.  Now and then it’s violent.  The question is how can you be an informed citizen—someone who uses critical thinking to evaluate information—and not become cynical and depressed?  How can you make sure you move forward in a positive way?

Good question.

The answer begins with believing that doing what’s good and kind is worthwhile.  Not everyone has the courage.  It’s the uphill road less taken.  It frequently doesn’t pay.  We’re all in different stages of growth.  Accepting the inevitability of ignorance and cruelty doesn’t mean you have to enable either.  You don’t have to allow yourself to be manipulated.

Turning a corner means you dare to go where you can’t predict the outcome.  You’re living on trust.  You do what feels right and true in your gut.  You dare to defy those who peddle hopelessness and fear.

I learned a lot watching my dog die.  She chose to be close to us as she passed.  I learned that love trumps pain and fear and facing the unknown.  Leaky pipes are preferable to a soul that leaks honor and caring.  I hear an unspoken challenge to be more and better on the other side of the next corner in my life.  Oddly, I’m looking up to my dog.