When do you get to change the rules, really change the rules?
When do you get to say this part is no longer working for me?
Perhaps better stated: How can you change the rule? How can you decide that it is no longer worth it to read the paper daily? How can you decide you do not have to be informed? How can you decide that it is not yours to know all the bad things in the world? How do you decide that it is no longer worth it to be pushed to the edge by the greed in the world? How do you choose not to be pushed to the edge by the crazy injustices in the world?
How can you change the rule, the rule that has been present in every way since day one, the rule that says: Put the world first? Fix the world because you must. Even if you can't fix it because it is way too big for one person to fix, you must give it your every ounce of strength anyway. There is a rule that says: Fix things. Including the school system, the insane health care system, the wars, the disintegration of family, the global warning. ALL OF IT. Fix it and don't stop until you do.
How do you change the rule?
Good question. I think by not conforming to the world and what the world expects of us and for those who have a faith in Jesus to live like he did. I think we need to fix ourselves before we try to fix the world and admit we are flawed and in need of someone like Jesus. But that's my thought and how I chose to change the rule of not "buying" into the world and what the world expected.
ReplyDeleteagain great question!
betty
Thanks, Betty. This is really a tough one for me. I am having a hard time living in the world of greed and selfishness. I am not sure how this is going to end.
DeleteI think you have to put yourself first - - and not in the way you think. Not the me me me kind of way. I think you have to make sure that YOU are doing everything you know how to do to to make sure you are the best person you can be. (And by best I put "kind" right there on top of the list.) Only then can you be in a real position to help "fix" the world or your neighbor, or whomever. Amen. haha
ReplyDeleteI like that, Judy. That makes sense. I am outraged at the injustice in the world and yet I can only do what I can do - in my family, my town, my school. But still.....
DeleteAt the risk of being accused of plagiarism, fix what you can fix; leave alone, that which is unrepairable; be able to figure out which is which...
ReplyDeleteI get it and that's a thoughtful twist. I am having a hard time saying it's okay for greedy and selfish people to rule the world. Not okay.
DeleteIt is emphatically NOT OK for greedy and selfish people to rule the world. However, think about it. You were not responsible for that taking place and there is nothing you can do about it.
DeleteGosh, I have enough trouble accepting that there are things in my own little corner that I simply cannot fix. That doesn’t mean that I don’t try and for sure I certainly can’t seem to stop worrying.
ReplyDeleteThat’s the human part of us. I don’t think it has to do with the rules of musts and shoulds. We just care, about each other. That is all.
I want to stop caring. Life is simpler then. I want to disengage from "civilization". I want to disappear where I can't see evidence of the way people don't care. But that's not going to happen.
DeleteThis is a tough question (or series of tough questions?) and one in which I frequently feel like I'm drowning. I decided several years ago that I am far too sensitive to let it all in and it wasn't doing anyone any good. When I start to get overwhelmed with all there is that needs to be fixed, I repeat Ghandi's words like a mantra to myself: "Be the change you wish to see in the world."
ReplyDeleteI have had to force myself to accept that I am the only person in this whole world over whom I can exert any control, and some days I can barely do that.
I am right there with you, Gracie.
Excellent question. We can't fix everything. We can't change the rules. But I'm a firm believer that we CAN make a difference in our particular circle of influence - like you're doing with the kids you work with. If we each did one small act of random kindness each day, imagine what a different world it would be.
ReplyDeleteI get frustrated with the news, too, and saw that you've got the Time article which I, as a medically challenged person, HAVE TO READ, but I know I'm not going to like it. It's frustrating to say the least that the wrong people are profiting from my medical maladies. Don't get me started...
I hear you, and I hear your frustration, and I share it.
Tina @ Life is Good
Co-host, April 2013 A-Z Challenge Blog
@TinaLifeisGood, #atozchallenge
I think it's the nature of many of us to want to fix things and maybe that's a human rule of the way we are. We dream and should never stop dreaming even if nothing really changes.
ReplyDeleteLee
Writers Workshop
An A to Z Co-host blog
Giving up hope worked for me...
ReplyDelete