Turtle Thinking

There is always hope.
Hope, however, does not gather attention
in the same way fear does.

Fear festers, appeals to our fears, and shows us ‘the world as it is.’
Except that it does not show ‘the world as it is’ because it chooses what to show us.

Hope inspires, gives the energy to move, and gives us a glimpse of ‘what can be.’
It does not get a lot of clicks; it is ridiculed as ‘unrealistic’ and challenging to maintain.

A diet of 90% hope and 10% fear would make us all happier people.
Instead, we get fed and feed on a diet of 90% fear and 10% hope.

I choose hope.
And you can too.

Some of us have a bigger capacity to care, others a smaller one.
But for all of us, it is true that we cannot care about everything.

Of all your capacity to care, a big part goes to things and people close to you.
What is left is the capacity to care for things far, far away.

Before television and the internet brought all wars and disasters straight into our rooms,
there were only a few disastrous things we knew of and could care about.

Nowadays, there are too many wars and disasters to care about them all.
Luckily, the media have solved this problem.
We are supposed to focus our care on the issues featured in the media.
The other ones, we can conveniently forget without feeling guilty about it.

Of course, this is not the way.
It is ok for us not to care about what is framed as the ‘conflict of the moment.’
Instead, we can care about the things and people around us, like humanity always did.
And we can care about a few things far, far away, preferably ones that we choose and can influence.

In short:
Our capacity to care is limited, and that’s normal.
We don’t need to care about something because it is front and center in the media.
We can choose the things we care about and can influence.

It’s not easy, but it’s possible.

It was dark in the forest.

Tiny, fluffy mouse looked outside.

“Mum, it’s so dark.”

“Yes, my dear. The sun is gone.”

She squinted her eyes.

“It must be dark for the neighbors, too, mama.”

“Yes, my dear, it’s dark for the neighbors too.”

A few minutes later, she lighted a candle and put it on the window sill. Her mother shook her head.

“That candle can’t light the dark forest, dear.”

“No, mama, but when the neighbors look outside, it will not be so dark for them.”

As the night passed, candle after candle appeared throughout the forest.

When next morning fluffy mouse looked outside,
the forest was no longer dark,
but a sea of shining stars.