Stop Mourning and Extend Your Hand

Stop Mourning and Extend your Hand

There was a period in my life when I felt invisible! In hindsight, my irrationality had its roots in my fear. I experienced such a great chasm between what I felt on the inside and how it was perceived on the outside that the only bridge that I could build was one of screaming rage.

At that point, all I needed was compassion.

I knew I had to dig my own self out of the hole that I had vanished into, I knew that my journey would be hard and I felt anxious, as I was incapable of controlling the outcome of such an experiment.

Luckily I had an understanding spouse and I had access to all the resources that I needed.  I no longer feel invisible, unheard or incapable!

Change is difficult! Especially the ones that come out of no-where and turn your life inside out.

Having said that, the means one employs to achieve an end is important for me. It will always remain so and I can never agree with the means employed by our president elect.

But this morning I woke up thinking about all the people in the rural small towns who came out in large numbers so that the rest of us could hear their screaming rage. These are people who have lost their livelihood, their communities, their families and their way of life as a result of globalization.

Added to the sudden disappearance of their way of life, as they have known for generations they have been branded as uneducated, deplorable and insensitive to upsetting comments. 

Its time to take a pause and put yourself in the shoes of these men and women!

We are all living in interesting times. Globalization is irreversible, perhaps the lives that have been changed can never be restored, the desired solutions may not exist and the promises made cannot be kept.

But we can all choose to be compassionate to all those who are suffering in our midst. We can remain patient and extend a helping hand while they figure their way out of the maze.

Perhaps this is a reality check for all of us on both sides of the aisle.

People who are in pain will scream out vulgarities. It is up to the rest of us to set down our privileged moral thinking and extend our ears and hands.

Grace is not the prerogative of the rich, ambitious or the greedy. Grace belongs to the ordinary man. Thank God most of us humans are ordinary!