Peter Walks for Democracy

The Civil Rights and South African anti-apartheid movement carried forward with purpose and joy. Though they faced dire circumstances, they did not fester in dejection and depression. While angry, leaders did not give into resentment. In 2016, I saw John Lewis, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Keith Ellison speak at the Civil Rights Museum in Philadelphia. Relaying hardships, they were sober and buoyant. The psychologist Stephen Luskin relays that Mandela once said that hatred is like drinking poison and then waiting for it to kill your enemy. I know for myself…and maybe I am speaking to myself as much as I am to you…that being mindful of my purpose, my enjoyment, and satisfaction with myself matter. If I am not in those three elements, I drift.

There is so much happening around us and to us these days. It can be easy to get pulled away from our purpose and the fountains of our happiness. Donald Trump, Elon Musk, the cabinet of billionaires, and a craven Congress have taken to ransacking a government of, by, and for the people. Every hour, there is a new grift. They are dismantling things before our eyes, essentially forcing hunger on poor kids, fewer opportunities on special needs kids, more disease for every kid, and an unstable climate for current and future generations. Calling it anti-social feels generous.

These things are true. But if I get sucked into the anger and fear I feel about them, I will lose myself. Four years ago, I was lost. After years of trying to be what I thought I should be instead of being in my purpose, I was drinking so heavily I was suicidal. Everywhere I looked, from COVID to what I had chosen to do for work and my “successes,” resentment ruled my life. Letting go was the best thing I could do. It helps me every day.

Every direction we look, LIFE is there. As Mary Oliver says in her poem “The Summer Day,” “What will you do with this one wild and precious life?”

Enjoy your life. Find satisfaction in what you have, what you do, & who you are. Be purposeful in your intentions, thought, speech, & actions.

Spend time in the spirit, whether that’s a religious faith, the cathedral of nature, a recovery practice, or in mindfulness.

Be present with and to your family & your friends. They need you & you need them. We are at our best when we are bonded in community.

Work. Work with purpose. Whether it’s paid or not, your labor is important.

The people and the forces that are seeding our world with chaos want you to feel aimless, dejected, defeated, and without power. If you accept their will as yours, they will win. The best thing you can do is be present to yourself, to your fellows, to the Creator (if you believe in such a being) and the Creation, and act with purpose. I have to do it every day, sometimes in five minute increments.

We all have this one life together. Make it count.

[For more on this, see Arthur Brooks’ TED talk (and more) on happiness.]