Jesse Owens was a sprinter and long jumper who won 4 gold medals for the United States in the 1939 Olympics. That's what most people know about him.
He was the grandson of a slave. His father was a sharecropper who took the risk to move his family in the Great Migration. As a child, he worked a variety of jobs to help his family. When his father got a stable job, he went to Ohio State.
He didn't own a pair of shoes until the founder of Adidas caught up with him and gave him what he needed.
Everyone told him not to enter the Olympics because of Hitler and the Nazis. He went anyway.
He knew the fear and horror of racism.
He knew extreme poverty.
He knew disappointment and being discouraged.
And yet, he encouraged us to look for the good in this world.
How do we find the good in our world?
The simple answer is that we need to look for it.
This world has no shortage of unfairness and suffering. There's evidence that humans can be cruel in modern times and in history.
And still, the people who suffered the very most still found love and joy and good which sustained their hope for a better tomorrow.
- Rather than commiserating on what's going wrong, spent time looking for what's going right.
To get you started: People are standing up. The world is protesting authoritarianism. The world's biggest bullies are now seen for who and what they are. And flowers are beginning to show in the Northern Hemisphere while the Southern Hemisphere is getting a much needed respite from the heat. - Don't waste your time screaming into social media.
Talk to a good friend or a therapist or even to yourself in a journal. Let your feelings out.
Trauma survivor? You likely innately reject your strong powerful feelings. Try Nick Weber's tool by simply telling your feelings that they belong. Anger? "You belong." It's helped me and may bring you some relief. - What do you care most about?
What pops into your mind when I ask this question? Human rights? Financial stability? The environment? Education? Health care? International relations? Democracy?
Everything is under threat right now. Pick something that you feel strongly about and get to work. Patagonia provides a list of volunteer opportunities in environmental issues. Represent US and Indivisible have campaigns for protesting a variety of issues. You can write letters or postcards to help political campaigns. Better yet, get to know your own representative. What do they do for you? What do they need to know from you? Have more money than time? Donate to those putting up the fights in the courts like Earth Justice, the ACLU, the SPLC, or the NAACP. If money and time are tight, follow any of these organizations on social media. Pass their message along.
Nothing feels better than joining a group of people who are fighting to rectify a situation that you care about. - How do you find the good in your life? (I believe that I turned on the comments here, but who knows?) Let us know what you do to find the good in your life. Let's learn together.
