In the wake of a horrific tragedy that devastated the city of Boston and those of us who watched on from wherever we were, I am here to remind you that the world is still good.
That may seem a lofty statement, or maybe naive or even disrespectful to those who were directly impacted. I mean no disrespect and, in fact, am writing this with tears streaming down my face for the families of the deceased and injured.
But there is a message from my heart that is ringing louder than ever:
The world is still good. People are still good. At our very core, our truest essence, we are Good. We are Peace. We work in cooperation, not competition.
You know what else makes me cry when I learn of shootings at schools and movie theaters, of bombings, of entire villages that are destroyed at the hands of other human beings? Watching Good and Peace work together in the form of helpers. We all know helpers. We have all been helpers and continue to be helpers when we see our strength is needed. Focus on that. Know that you know way more people who do amazing, important, peaceful work in this world than there are people who, for some reason, are walking in the opposite direction.
I won’t even pretend to know why people turn away from their Good. I absolutely cannot think of a single reason why someone would turn their back on Love and destroy life. But I do know, without a shadow of a doubt, that Love and Peace and Good prevail.
If we were not those things by Nature, we wouldn’t have entire organizations set up to better the lives of fellow human beings, animals and other Earth-inhabitants. Focus on that.
Focus on how quickly people came to the aid of those who suffered injuries yesterday; did you see the tweets encouraging blood donors? Did you see the requests to close our eyes and send Light to those who needed it? Did you see messages organizing impromptu running groups dedicated to the victims? Did you feel your community – your colleagues, your friends, your people – come together to do something to honour Boston?
There are more people in the world who do those things – including you – than those who do not. Focus on that.
Is your world still spinning? Are you still feeling helpless or angry or like you just want to give up on the human race?
Here are 5 things you can do to ease your pain and support the ones you have been shedding tears for:
1. Start a random acts of kindness campaign. How? Perform one or more acts of kindness for complete strangers, and ask them to pay it forward. Smile when you do it. Smile afterward, too; you will feel better. So will the lovely people you were kind to.
2. If you are a runner, organize a run this week and dedicate it to the memory and the recovery of those injured in Boston.
3. Make a charitable donation of your time or other resources to a group that could use your help. It doesn’t have to be running-related. The act of purposefully doing good opens up your heart to Love and Light. It’s like food for your soul.
4. Write a journal entry in which you offload any negative feelings you are harbouring about the Boston Marathon tragedy, or any other tragedy. When you are done, when you have finished crying and swearing and whatever you need to do to empty yourself of fear and anger, tear up the paper to shreds. Close your eyes and envision pink light blanketing the shreds. Then, dispose of the paper. (If you can burn it safely, that is best.)
5. Get out and be in Nature. It will heal you and remind you of the vastness and greatness of the Universe. Let the trees comfort you, the birdsong soothe you and notice the beauty of the flowers. Everything has its time, and its time limit, in the physical world. Nature will remind you of that. And it will take you past that and whisper to you the secret we sometimes forget: we go on and on and on, no matter what comes our way.
Peace to you, my Readers, and to all who inhabit this planet with us.
I leave you with this picture that was circling Facebook yesterday.
