Beautify the World
by Marie T. Russell
 It's
so easy to complain. We all do it at times, some of us more than others. We all
have various and sometimes numerous reasons to complain. Some of them are within
our power to change, and others not. We complain about our job, our health, the
weather, our neighbors, our kids, our families, our government, the environment,
the state of the world... As you can see, if you want to complain there is no lack
of things to complain about.
However, the question is, does complaining help? And, of course, we all know
the answer... complaining does not really help. It may make us feel better for a
few moments, just as draining the pus from a wound makes it feel better, but it
is not really a healing process in itself. Draining the pus may make it possible
for the healing to take place, but simply draining it, day in and day out, will
only aggravate the wound and stop it from healing.
What we focus on expands. The more we focus on something, the bigger it seems,
even if just in our minds. Just think about it. If the weather is not to your
liking and you keep focusing on it (complaining about it), it doesn't help at
all -- it just makes you more upset or depressed about the state of the weather.
However, if you choose to go on about your life and make the best of it (rain or
no rain, sunshine or not), you can create a great experience for yourself, which
you would not have had if you had just sat there and complained about the
weather.
The same principle applies to pain. I've noticed that if I have a headache
and I just sit around and mope, the headache remains at the forefront of my
awareness. On the other hand, if I get busy and "distract myself" by doing
something constructive, then I "forget" that I have a headache, and while I'm
not thinking about the headache and I'm totally involved in something, I have no
headache (or at least I'm not aware of it, which basically comes to the same
thing -- no pain). (And for those of you who suffer from migraines, yes, I know
this may not necessarily apply to migraines. I have found it very hard to
"distract myself" when I have a migraine -- but who's to say it wouldn't work if we
could truly "forget" that we have a migraine?)
Complaining about something in the state of the world (whether we're talking
about our small world or the world at large) is not a constructive solution. It
is rather destructive. The more we complain, the more we feel negative, and the
more the people we are complaining to feel negative (either about the situation
in general, or about having to listen to us complain).
We do have a choice. As we always do. We can choose to complain about our
life, about events in it, about the situation in world politics, about the
environment, or we can "get off the pot" and do something about it. We are not
helpless babies (and even babies are not helpless, as evidenced by parent's
frantic efforts to stop a baby's loud cries and wails). We are adults who have
the power to make decisions, to take action, to make changes.
Our life is as we make it. Yes, things happen "to us", but how we react, and
what we choose to do about it is entirely up to us. Yes, we can, as many of us
did for years, focus on personal growth and healing our lives... and this is an
important process. Yet, we need to remember that healing our lives involves the
healing of the planet. The planet is our home... all of it...
This year is an important year (as all years are important if only because
they are here and now), yet this year seems to have more importance since it is
a portal into the future... It is an election year in the USA (and other countries
as well). We all have choices to make. There are two roads in front of us. One
of rampant consumerism and rampant egotism, and one of caring for the planet and
all of the people on it.
Life seems to go to extremes. When one looks at history, and looks at the
Roman Empire, the collapse of the empire came due to total self-indulgence in
pleasure, greed, intoxication, power, etc. At this time in US history, it seems
that we have reached the same point. We have "used resources" throughout the
world without concern for the future generations. We have consumed and spread
garbage without thought of the future and of the example we were giving. We
speak of being a model of democracy, yet most of us do not vote and many of us
feel that it is "beneath us" to delve into the "dirty world" of politics.
Shall we stand by and watch Rome burn (watch the planet be destroyed by greed
and apathy)? Or shall we do something while we can? Are we innocent bystanders,
or are we part of the problem and thus possibly part of the solution? One of my
favorite expressions has been "It takes two to tango." In other words, if Rome
is getting ready to burn and we do nothing to stop it, then we are participating
in the cause of that burning. We are just as responsible as the people who set
the fire.
We are not separate from the world. This
is our reality, here and now. If we were in an alternate reality, then war,
poverty, and crime would not exist on "our planet"... yet it does.
So in focusing on creating our reality, we need to take all of it into
consideration. Not just our immediate environment, but the whole shebang. We are
not powerless. We are powerful. We are not peons and slaves. We are free beings
and we can choose what actions we take. We have the power to make a difference,
just by our presence, by our choices, by our actions. Let's get off the couch
and do something about the world... Let's beautify the world by doing our part to
making it a better place for all.
Recommended book:
Small Pleasures: Finding Grace in a Chaotic World
by Justine Toms.
Forty-nine short
meditative essays that help readers to turn aside from their chaotic
lives to experience grace and possibility in the small,
critically important things in life.
More info or to order this book.
 About The Author
Marie
T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also
produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from
1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal growth, and
well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own
inner source of joy and creativity.
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