Acting from our 'better selves'

The craziness that is going on, not only in America, but all over the world seems way beyond reason.  The list is long and well known.  What is important, in my opinion, is some recognition of what it is going to take to change the human condition.

I was reading an article by Chris Hedges on July 21 in TruthDig, and this was his concluding paragraph:  “Love and empathy must be honored if we are to be fully human and create sustainable communities.  It is a message that is harder and harder to hear amid the din of the corporate state.  It is a message that is deeply subversive to capitalists bent on ceaseless exploitations.  Those who bring us this message call us back to our better selves.”

Yes, fully human and better selves. The crazy things we fight over are not the problem. The problem is that our human thinking is less than fully evolved and our acting is from our lesser selves.

As humans, we need:  governments, corporations, competition, media, health care, differing points of view, boundaries, levels of education, religions, various cultures, different physical appearances and healthy diversity.

So, considering all these things that we need, how and what would being fully human and acting from our better selves look like?  And how would it make a difference?  Any ideas?

It seems to me that if any sort of answer is going to come, we each need to be able to look at this for ourselves, contemplate and decide. That proverbial journey of a thousand miles always starts with the first step.

What can one person do?  It can be amazing how one person’s attitude can grow, begin to inspire others, attract better attitudes for candidates running for office, inspire better leadership at all levels, encourage cooperation and dialogue, cause the initiation of projects for growth, and just generally begin to change a whole national attitude leading to global continuity.

Each and all of us who believe in this message help call us back to our better selves.

Bob McClellan, Polson