Truthfully, it has been a LONG year, mommas! There has been so much happening that I struggle to keep up with it all. Professional challenges, then Covid-19 and consequential three-month society shut down, then the videos of black men dying in the street…it was all too much. And, as much as I wish that I could just step away from our current realities, just for a second, so I could catch my breath and regain footing, that just isn’t part of MY reality. Someone posted recently, “I just can’t wait until things go back to normal.” My immediate thought was, “What exactly does that look like?” I don’t want things to go back to ‘normal;’ I want things to change into something good.
“As much as I wish that I could just step away from our current realities…so I could catch my breath and regain footing, that just isn’t part of MY reality.”
Waiting on the World to Change
I am sipping on hope wherever I can find it – journaling, talking it out with friends, reading, meditating, watching the world wake up and take to the streets to protest injustice, loving on my family. I realized over the past week or so, that I have been holding my breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The anticipation of the changing social climate has me feeling apprehensive. Should I just hold still and pray for the best? Or, should I charge, bringing the ripples of change with me?
I know this: one person will not change the world. The only way we will see long-lasting, sustained change is when we become willing to all link arms and work towards healthier processes and policies. Our worldview has to become bigger than simply what we prefer; it has to include the consideration of our fellow man and whether we are willing to go the extra mile for them? Last week, a friend of mine asked the question, “Are you willing to take a lap with me, or are you willing to run the whole race with me?”
Are You in it for the Long Haul?
The question resonated with me; do my allies have a statute of limitations or are they all in? If this season has taught me anything, is that I need people around me that are committed to being there. Not only when it is convenient or trending but even when it is the unpopular stance. I don’t expect perfectly couched statements and responses; our life experiences may not be the same and that is okay. The beauty of humanity is not that it is perfect but that it is capable of showing compassion. Imagine what the world would look like if we, as a global society, rejected the “us vs. them” mentality and focused on the “us vs. injustice” perspective instead? If we committed to contributing to positive change, one relationship at a time, we may be able to cross the finish line of social progress in our lifetime. What a beautiful present to hand to our children; the gift of a Better World.
“The beauty of humanity is not that it is perfect but that it is capable of showing compassion.”
