Issues that Matter

Living life, we see things. we feel things. We come to know more about things. meanings emerge. Connections become evident. Cause and effect grow to significance. We understand more about our life and its relations with others. This matters to me. I bet it matters to you, too.

I have thought this way most of my life. I followed this path of interests. I discovered for myself so much in life. Understanding their significance to other discoveries attracted my attention. It changed me. It impelled me to live expansively on the one hand, and in the gritty details on the other.

This way of living initially attracted my attention and kept it for life.

Along the way I tried new things, did different things. Risking failure in the new, I learned much. Like the best lessons in life, failure teaches the most. Success is hardly known to teach. Success blinds us to why it is a success. Failure, however, uncovers what doesn’t work and the why. Those lessons are clear and helpful as we step into the future unknowns.

A life spent with issues that matter is exciting and interesting. You know that. I am not the only person who knows this or lived in this manner. Each day is exciting and filled with potential. Learning what is good helps with knowing what is bad. Defining the why this is so, is no easy task. The effort, however, teaches us how to define it. Weighing its importance in the grand scheme of things, points to which issues need our attention more than others at this time. Priorities, don’t you know?

Not complaining about them provides the time to probe them for understanding. In that approach we discover how to manage them and hopefully solve them. This leads to a better life for our communities. We work for the common good. It unfolds day by day and makes us appreciate so much more.

Not complaining. But doing.

Compare this to what we read in the news today. Mostly complaints. Mostly divisive talk and action. Building pressure to divide and control one another. Not solving anything but building differences and political arguments. How unproductive. If it is important, do something about it. Just do it. Find the organizations and resources that will help the situation, not compound it.

The so-called debate of conservatives and progressives is only political. It accomplishes nothing. If you believe education solves many problems, be a teacher, or researcher, a scientist, or someone who manages resources in the fields of education. Help others become the resources we need to manage our common good far into the future.

Or if you believe a service or product is missing in our marketplaces, for heaven’s sake, create the product or service and bring it to market. Continue to do so as a continuing mission in your life. The profits from the successes will be well worth your efforts and capital risks. Oh, there will be losses from misreading the market, but those are prime learning opportunities.

If you believe art – all of its components: music, dance, visual arts, et. al. – then jump into art so the intellect is broadened, tuned to the powers of the brain to see the world in ways that are vitally important to so many of us. Art is more than enjoyment. It is training the brain to think in ways unimaginably vast.

Focusing on issues that matter becomes a lifestyle. It rarely disappoints. It excites the soul. At the same time, it offers solutions to stubborn problems common to our existence. Best to do something about those, don’t you think?

June 7, 2024

 

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