Archived News of the Week

Some Thoughts on the New Year

On Saturday I had a patient burst into tears on my couch saying, "The world is just so sucky now." I couldn't agree more.

We are all outraged and terribly sad at what happened in Newtowne with the killing of the young innocents by an obviously psychotic young man. I can still tear up over it, as I am sure you do. And still, the assault weapons are sold. But, hey, the NRA is suggesting that we amp up our protection of the children in schools with more guns, armed security guards, and even teachers carrying weapons. Nowhere is there one word about banning the assault weapons that fire round after round after round with one finger pull and suddenly within seconds 20 children are dead. And how about screening extra zealously for kids in trouble? And how about Moms with guns not teaching their autistic sons how to shoot?

I hear we are about to topple over the fiscal cliff or maybe we have by the time you read this, and even though we really don't know what this is, we worry about it. (Written January 1st: Apparently we didn't go over that cliff, but, just to keep the fear factor at high levels, the pundits are now warning that March could be even worse with budget cuts etc., so it never ends, does it?) We worry, especially because we don't understand what they are talking about half the time. It's all so murky. But, when it hits our pocket book - and of this they are perfectly clear - we worry. We worry when we hear on the news that a ½ gallon of milk will be $8. We worry about great big sunspots knocking out all the communication and electronics on earth and then where will I get my romaine lettuce three-pack? We worry about an undetected asteroid hitting the earth or the volcano in Yellowstone erupting (that's really a goodbye, baby, for us here in Colorado...) and we now watch the Doomsday Preppers on TV and think it all looks pretty good and that maybe they know something that we don't and we buy more cans of beans.

We see our Congress acting like spoiled two year olds, unwilling to cooperate on anything which would compromise their party beliefs and pointing the finger of blame everywhere but at themselves. Meanwhile, we, their constituents who they are supposed to represent (they are our voice, as I understand it, but I have never felt so unheard) feel both helpless and furious at their non- actions, their bullying ways, the endless obfuscations and filibustering.

Then there are the various and sundry wars that the entitled old men send the very young usually poor and working class men, to be sacrificed - for what? Oh yeah. Oil. How could I forget. Then there is North Korea with its bloated demi-god of a leader perpetuating his father's dangerous regime. And Russia, saber rattling at the slightest provocation, and Iran with the crazy and unpredictable Ahmadinejad relentlessly stockpiling uranium and getting closer and closer to having a real weapon of mass destruction.

And, India. How could we forget India, whose young men feel that rape, horrifying mutilation and death of young women is perfectly reasonable? And then there is Africa, of course. When I was in college many thousands of years ago, the Kingston Trio was singing about this even then - "they're rioting in Africa, there's strife in Irain (sic), there's hurricanes in Florida, and we all need rain." Nothing much changes, does it? Have I forgotten a continent? You can fill in the blanks.

So how did I console my patient? You would probably agree that there is not much fodder here for soft consoling words. You simply can't deny that the world is pretty sucky right now but here's the thing: You don't have to buy into it. You don't have to let what is happening OUT THERE affect you IN HERE. You don't have to ruin your own life because of it. You can say, "Yes, O.K., the world is sucky." then consciously throw that energy away and off of you. It's not so much ignoring or pushing away the bad stuff, as much as it is acknowledging it then consciously getting rid of it.

"The cause of our suffering, e.g. fear, sadness, disappointment, is our reaction to the reality of no escape," not what happens OUT THERE. "We can spend our whole life suffering because we can't relax with how things really are, or we can relax and embrace the open-endedness of the human situation, which is fresh, unfixated, unbiased." (Pema Chodron, Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change). So, rather than existing in an unhealthy state of passive pain and anxiety over current events, you could try accepting the what is, the what's so, or in a more active move, volunteer in causes that absorb you.

Yes, bad things may happen. We may yet go off that shadowy fiscal cliff, things could be worse in March, but most of us are tenaciously adaptive. We can get used to almost anything. Now is not the time for "Oh, woe is me". Now is the time for enthusiasm and optimism. We were given life and a body and that is nothing to sneer at. According to Buddhist lore, you have as much chance of being born into a human incarnation as you have ensnaring a turtle around its neck with the life preserver you have thrown from a boat in the middle of the ocean.

You could stop watching the news, for one thing. It's all a lie anyway. But if you are like me you are like the spider and the fly with "news." I can't help myself, clucking the entire time and shaking my head and wondering what it's all coming to. But do consider this: This stuff, this blah-blah, these words coming at you from the large noisy box are from OUT THERE and these words are made up by people who want to scare you, want to engage you, want you to buy products, want to keep you in your place. You still have your complete and unbroken IN HERE to retreat to, and this IN HERE is beautiful, and light and untroubled.

Just put out what you want and say it repeatedly, over and over again. Say you are the light. Say you are in your highest power right now. Have loving kindness and compassion for every living thing. Treat others with tenderness, generosity and respect. And you will heal not only yourself, but the entire planet.

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