Day 3-When Things Feel Bad, Improve Things Just A Little

I had a friend once who was very quick to predict defeat. We were watching a football game , and the team we were rooting for fumbled the kickoff and the other team scored a touchdown. Immediately this friend said, “That’s it. It’s over. We’re going to lose.” I thought it was a bit early to make that prediction. Experience has taught me that there is no shame in surrender, but know glory in quitting before it is time. 

Leaves that last through the entire year, hanging in through storms and high winds, drop easily and gently to the ground when the time's right. When the time is truly right we do not need to predict the end, we know it. It reminds me of people when asking if they would like to have more children. When people are really done, they know it, and say it with conviction that leaves you with no doubt. They are done.

It is easy right now to feel despair.  However we are not even close to being done. Minneapolis is forever changed, but like amazing people who have been through much and earned your respect the city will show it’s scars and develop gifts unforeseen. We are also not done as a country. I hear many around the world speak as though The United States is not only the corruption, greed, racism and violence that we have experienced. We are also the art this country as well as it’s innovation, as well as the opportunity that many have experienced in being able to become who they feel they need to be.

We are not just a history of racism, but a history of courageous people who stood against racism. We are Martin Luther King and Frederick Douglass. We are Sojourner Truth and Maya Angelou. We are Gloria Steinem and Angela Davis. We are Cesar Chavez and Roberto Clemente. America's not just people who were born here. It is people who came here with a sense of promise. It is people like Harvey Milk and the heroes of the Stonewall uprising on the other side of the country. Asian heroes like Tammy Duckworth or Amy Tan. These people and many more of every group have been American heroes. Even people who were not Americans, but reflected American art back to us followed an American tradition of not being held by tradition. 

Stay present. Listen intently and notice small details. Be careful of feeding yourself an endless diet of news designed to inflame you. Do not make negative predictions that serve no one. Breathe and intend to follow the voice of your intuition. You will know it because it will be in service of your deepest values. By making small changes we can make a big difference. If we truly intend to make a difference, we will. This moment is the point of power. Do not wait for tomorrow. Truly choose it today, now. This is the 3rd day of The 40 Day Challenge,