Remembering the Starfish Story

One of the things I absolutely hate is the tendency of some women I know to sit around verbally bashing the men in their lives. I refuse to participate in this insidious practice and generally will not associate with women who make a habit of it. In the first place, I adore men in general and am particularly fond of one or two of them in particular. I prefer to focus on the many fine qualities I appreciate about the testosterone laden species. Sure, there are some jerks in the world. But that goes for both genders. Basically, I think it is unproductive and downright destructive to spend a lot of energy in spiteful criticism.

So I started wondering about when and why I find it acceptable to be critical of my government, my culture, my employers, or the noisy neighbors next door.

Where do I draw the line between “accentuate the positive” and giving voice to feelings from annoyance to outrage at what I see happening around me?

When is “venting” about something that makes us angry a healthy thing and when is it merely adding fuel to the fire of negativity?

My main philosophy of life is that if I am displeased with something I have three options:
1) take action to change the situation
2) change how I am defining / reaction to the situation
3) remove myself from the situation

Merely complaining does not seem to move me in the direction of any of the above. It just reinforces what I don’t like about what is happening.

So that takes me back to how upset I get over my government’s short sighted, and in my view, very misguided policies in relation to the rest of the world.

What am I willing to do to try to improve the situation? Sitting around being outraged really does not serve me or the world that I live in. So do I let my outrage run its course till it fizzles out into apathetic disregard or do I channel it into some sort of action?

Granted, I may be just one person and my efforts may appear to have little impact. But like the famous story of the starfish, any difference I DO make can be of use to someone.

It was Everett Edward Hale who said: “ I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do the something I can do.

So the trick, for me, is working to determine what, where, and how to best place my focus and energy to find the path for my efforts....

In Power of Vision Joel Barker says:

"Vision without action is merely a dream.
Action without vison just passes the time.
Vision with action can change the world."

I honestly believe that to be true. What remains is to see what I will do about it.