We Can Do Better-
We can do better. Easy words to write. Difficult in so many ways.
On the simplest of levels we can determine to stop nagging our family about dropping clothes where they leave the body. The living room. The kitchen. The hall. Everywhere but the dirty clothes hamper or basket. We can make up our mind to give a simple reminder to those who occupy our space. We can leave a note. We can refuse to pick up anything but what is ours. Yes, we can decide to do better.
That lasts about a day-or maybe an hour. All our good intentions fly out the window as we see piles and piles all over the house. What if company dropped in? What if we had to leave suddenly and needed a neighbor to watch the house-from the outside only? What if runs in a loop over and over again in our heads. Eventually we are worn down. We do what we vowed not to do. At first we kick all the piles together. Then we tell ourselves to behave like a grown-up and pick them up. We repeat those words. We can do better we tell ourselves.
Perhaps we believe we have been mistreated. We fume. We talk out loud to ourselves about the injustice done to us. We cry. We go over the event time and again trying to see where things went south. Eventually we make a decision. Part of the challenge came from us. Maybe we weren't the best friend or partner. Maybe we did share just an ounce of blame. After we have examined the situation countless times, we realize it is time to move forward. We cannot give another minute to the past. We can't change it. Our only option is to do better. Yes, do better. We make that decision.
These are only two examples where we have the opportunity to do over and better. We are alive and can do better. Which brings me to this moment in time in the world.
All of those folks in France last evening had hopes and ambitions. They had dreams. They had plans for the next day or next week. They were enjoying a celebration. They were the innocents. As were the innocents who lived their last day in our land during the past months. Places to be. People to see. Children to hug and put to bed with a story and a kiss. Sweet dreams, they whispered, as they pulled the covers up.
In a blink of an eye, the beat of the heart their ability to do better died. They did not have the opportunity to right a wrong. To kiss the wife, husband, child, parent, partner. They believed they would have another day to do better. To do that project at work. To open that new store. To take that award winning photograph. To visit with that parent in the hospital. They knew they would have time to accomplish all those things on their radar. Each of those whose lives were stopped had a life that was waiting for them.
It is difficult to wrap my head and heart around the grief that rests over so many souls. One minute alive-the next gone. So sudden and violently. Never the chance to grab a hand and pull out of harms way. Never the chance to hold them or love them. ( I am crying as I write this because my heart cannot hold such grief inside. It has to come out.) Break time.
So I ask the question-Can we do better? Can we ever learn to love? Why is love so hard? Why is acceptance of difference impossible in some circles? What good happens when lives full of potential cease? How do these vicious acts make our world better? Can we do better?
Of course we can do better. But, I have begun to realize that doing better happens in small steps. It happens when we care about those around us. When we engage in conversation. When we hold our beliefs yet attempt to understand anothers. I think we do better when we reach out to those who need help be that financial or emotional. Sometimes I want to withdraw into my own little world. I believe there is safety in that small space. But, that means I have ceased to live. I have allowed the world to dictate my life. That I cannot do. Life is always a chance.
Do I honestly believe we can do better? Do I believe I can do better? Loud and clear I shout yes. I shout that my life will not be lived in fear. It shall be lived with gusto. With love and care. With attention to doing what lifts others. As long as there is breath in this old body, I shall work at doing better. There is time to work toward making life better for all.
We can do better. It won't be easy. We may need to listen more and talk less. We may need to sit down with those so very different from us and engage in conversation. We may need to rethink long held views. Whatever it takes, we must do better. Our children deserve a world where they are safe and free to become all they desire to be.
Life is so precious. We must do better. It is not an option.
