Cynicism claims more concrete evidence than optimism by pointing out the obvious troubles. Optimism seems to be based on less concrete unknowns. The cynic assumes everything is going down. The optimist hopes in the ultimate rise of Goodness. We wouldn’t expect many optimists to give up on life and die, but surprising multitudes of cynics also choose to keep plodding through life.
When we believe there is no hope we tend to isolate; fewer and fewer people prove to be in agreement with our dire view until the only one left to agree with is ourselves. Those with hope seem to sense they can accomplish more with others than they could on their own. So, they gather and work out ways to put up with one another’s stupidity in order to give an idea a try; their note to the cynic: “Working on it.”
Maybe most of us are a mix of the down and the up, choosing to put blinders on, adopting a robotic routine doing our thing, hoping to survive until better times. How long can we go on like this? Some of us are feeling pretty low and wondering “what is the use” of trying to keep doing good.
First, you are not alone, both in feeling low and in trying to do good.
Don’t let yourself isolate. At least in your self-talk think of all the people in the world trying to do some good. Just statistically, of the billions of people on earth there are fewer people trying to perpetrate evil than the majority trying to protect their families, engage in a helpful occupation, build a house, create a thing of beauty, cook dinner …
Second, it does not matter if your goodness is small or unnoticed.
Just the fact that you know you did a good thing is proof that goodness is not dead. More than that, most people feel small and unnoticed, but you are thinking of them right now … we are all doing our little good every day on average, and some of those good things are even benefiting others. Combined, the goodness is incalculably huge.
Third, there are millions of people trying to do more good than just the everyday obvious things.
What if more of us tried to do some extra good on a regular basis? Just the fact that I am suggesting it, tells me others are thinking the same thing, because it is so obvious it’s trite. Think of the difference you could make by a positive response to a stranger, or an encouraging word to one of those billions trying to keep going through the day. But, hey, you could do something a little bigger than that. If you do it, statistically, countless others will decide to do it.
This is not the results of a scientific study. I’m just talking about being human and knowing a bit about what humans do. I’m just putting into words what you could also express in your own words, what has been expressed by fellow humans for millennia.
Some Goodness I Offer
This is why I keep contributing whatever good I am inspired to offer even when it involves discomfort and inconvenience. Okay, I do set some inspirations aside. I can’t do everything all the time and that is the challenge of wisdom in each of us. But, we don’t retire from living life to the fullest within the circumstances given us. We are learning how to live better as we go, without stalling and wasting ourselves on indecision, or regrets of the past. We keep growing in understanding who we are and how to do what our True Self is here to do until we are not here.
It was not convenient to write and illustrate my workbook Your Table of Creation in 2017 (ebook HERE). But it was one of those “extra” good deeds I could offer to help people be more creative. Likewise, producing my video series based on the workbook is proving a challenge. But, as small and unnoticed as it may be, it is an unknown link in the unseen network of incalculable goodness.
My workbook and video series are initiatives to practice what I am preaching. They are
- inspirations I have had
- which I disciplined myself to make
- and now promote to your attention for whatever effect they might have.
The effect will mostly be unknown, but I am full of faith that there is some good being accomplished because I am living out what I am inspired to live.
In the cosmic view over countless millennia our comparatively minute efforts accumulate in the infinite and timeless complex of spirit and material, maturing the universal Body of God. This is the growth we are invited to participate in. It is far beyond amassing some exclusive, material empire, or maintaining some hierarchical organization. It calls us to set our minds on things beyond our current inventions, on the Reality that is more than we can yet see.
Keep the Good Flowing
Every instance of inconvenience and uncomfortable effort to accomplish some inspiration for good is an instance of the universe growing. We unite our intangible, unseen spirit with materiality for the growth of this Body, as cells do unnoticed but so vital. The difference between us and cells is that we can choose to either ignore or flow with the inspiration to grow.
A flower does not debate whether to form a bud and grow it into a full blossom. It does not quibble about being in a place where no one will see it. This Spring my wife and I looked upon a wide field to see swaths of solid color in the distance, unable to see individual blossoms faithfully contributing to the scene. Camping at night in the mountains we look at the masses of stars and consider that each star is a sun, a place, and probably has something orbiting around it, another place. What is the “use” of so many places in the trillions? God knows. And none of the flowers or stars in the distance is aware of anyone contemplating them (or are they?). Observe the birds actively going about the world without a thought of what we might be thinking about them. They do not know they are beautiful; they just live their form to the fullest (and outside in all weather among predators!).
We are surrounded by trouble and that is why we persevere in doing good work. We are troubled by the evils being perpetrated, but we live out the goodness we can, believing it will connect with others living their goodness. We have a vision of all the goodness being lived out uniting as a Body able to overcome the wrongs and gain momentum in this transformation.
Put forth your contribution no matter how insignificant it may seem to you. Try not to judge whether it will make any difference. Believe that you can
receive inspiration,
then do the work to create
and follow through to offer your world the results of that work.
