This (Our) Human Interest Story Needs a Better Ending

Photo by Nathan Lemon on Unsplash

The world I experience on a daily basis can range from calm and quiet as I sit in my comfy home to loud and noisy as I honk and curse my way to the next stop on my to-do list. I get through this without much pain or angst. Illness, disease, financial hardship or an accident may intrude on an otherwise easy-going life and yet, there is a good chance that, too, will be overcome because of the my access to medical care and modern technological advances.

As much as I’d like to keep to our little safe bubble, there’s a whole world out there that is suffering. It’s like being given a death sentence then not actually dying. Humans have suffered from…well, the beginning of time and while it serves as a vital part of our personal growth, the suffering we experience because of the treatment by our fellow humans is abhorrent.

One of the fundamental “rules” I heard over and over as a kid was to treat others like I would like to be treated. This came from my parents, stories I read, Sunday sermons, and the classroom rules hung up next to the chalkboard. (I still miss the smell of chalk in the air.) I’m sure you heard a version of this same principle. My question for all of us is, “are we living it?” From what I see on the news, in the comments section of "<insert any social media platform>, and from our own political leaders, we aren’t.

These days, the distance between two people is not just because of latitude and longitude. We can now create space with a tap or a click on social media via the internet. God bless the internet but it has also become a place where the underbelly of humanity, the trolls as they are unaffectionately called, rears its ugly head. Hurtful words are flung about like ice filled snowballs. Nothing is off limits and it doesn’t take long for a feeding frenzy to start as soon the “blood” hits the comments box.

I don’t feel the human race is doomed or that we’re living in Hunger Games-like world where we’re trying to remain the last person standing. Not at all. I’m not that way and because you choose to read my blog, you’re probably not either. But I do think a lot about this human interest story that I’m a part of and where we are in the storyline.

I cannot take on the world and all of its horrific parts but I can control what I can. That means how I interact with others on a daily basis. Where I spend money so that I support companies who value their employees and give back to their local communities and/or have a positive impact on the world globally. Where I volunteer to help those in need. How I share my gifts to help improve others’ lives.

Those gestures and actions are what can be what ignites someone else to do something good. Dare I think it could start a ripple effect? I would love for one person’s act of kindness or courtesy to be all that it took to shift the momentum and energy from the negative to the positive. Maybe these little ripples can turn into small waves which then can become one big mama tsunami that takes out the trolls, or better yet, helps them see how to be the humans they were created to be.

It starts with me and you. As a collective whole. we can rewrite the human interest story that is going on out there. I can be a part of the solution by making a conscious effort to being a better human than were yesterday. How can I do that?

read for enlightenment.

listen without judgment.

encourage with sincerity.

serve without expectation of anything in return.

include others who are different than ourselves or have different views than our own.

acknowledge each other’s worth without feeling less than.

forgive and move on without resentment.

love unconditionally.

Is this hard to do? Hell yes, it’s hard. Doing these things are like plot points within the story, with each one having a climax moment. Will she or won’t she forgive her friend who betrayed her trust and shared something told in confidence? Will she finally start that non-profit she’s been dreaming about since she went on that mission trip back when she was a teenager? Will he finally quit that soul-sucking job with the company that only cares about the bottom line and take that job with the non-profit who build hospitals in remotes areas of third-world countries?

If I don’t like what I see out there, I can start by looking in the mirror and change what needs to be fixed with me first. I start with myself and hopefully my inner work works its way into the world to encourage others to do the same. I work on myself, which impacts my family, which impacts our friends, our co-workers or teammates, then onward and upward. My children are watching how I treat others and as their first and most consistent teacher, I’m a part of creating the next generation of humanity. They model what they see so if I want to help rewrite this crappy story I’m seeing play out in the world, I need to work on doing my part.