Pack Creek Ranch, San Juan County Utah
At the end of April, clear skies, a bright moon, and mild weather.
PRESCRIPTION
So, the man I know is having a bad beginning to his day.
So, what? He’s been around for a while and knows that this, too, will pass – if he chooses to make it so.
What is his self-prescribed solution?
For all the criticism of social media, he knows that he can connect to the good news of the world – if he looks for it. On YouTube, he can go to the concerts of the Dutch musician, Andre’ Rieu. He can search the offerings of Dry Bar Comedy. And laugh. And pull up the wicked humor of Billy Connolly or George Carlin. Or watch great dance videos. Or listen to the singing of choirs.
Today, he looked at the videos of deaf people who had received cochlear implants and could hear for the first time ever. And then there’s the videos of The Girl with Wings – a young woman born without arms who has learned to live an amazing life with the use of her feet. She has taken what she has and made the best of it.
Sometimes the man I know feels sorry for himself.
But he can see and hear and dance and sing and walk and run.
And he is ashamed of feeling self-pity.
And he is inspired to take what he has and make the best of it.
By the end of a bad day, he is reconnected to the best of being human and his own possibilities.
The cliché of the day is “these are times of great uncertainty.”
Lots of evil seems to be loose in the world. But history tells us that life is always uncertain and always will be. It is hazardous to be alive. But history also tells us that for all that goes wrong, the best of human nature has prevailed.
I believe that there is more to respect and admire in us than there is to despise – not just as homo sapiens but as individuals. While we may not agree on the meaning of life, there is overwhelming evidence that we can choose to make our lives meaningful and often do.
And there is ample evidence that we are not alone.
Onward!