Simple Truths
~ This article first appeared in The Leader-Vindicator newspaper. ~
The woman who acted as my “adoptive grandma” passed away last week. It is impossible to reflect on her life without mentioning children. Not until I became a parent was I able to grasp the full meaning of Ruth, as though the previous 30+ years with her suddenly held entirely new meaning in the context of my growing family. Children are not easy. They relentlessly demand attention that in many cases is unavailable, a strain that causes stress on the adult and increases the demand for attention by the youth. Yet she consciously surrounded herself with kids. Obviously the lady was insane.
Without question a woman constantly in the presence of kids experiences the entire spectrum of harassment caused by infants, toddlers, children, and eventually teenagers. The aggravation was never visible. She lived through it and didn’t focus on what went wrong. In hindsight, a good many people are grateful for that.
We can easily create an analogy for life from Ruth’s commitment to kids. Life is guaranteed to harm us just as kids are guaranteed to harm the people caring for them. I’ve wasted a significant portion of my time focusing on things that go wrong and it seems I am not alone in this tendency. The mindset of society is the equivalent of Ruth spending her time focusing on the horrible aggravation caused by so many kids around her. She could’ve lived the exact same life but with this totally opposite perspective and her funeral would’ve had a much different tone, a reflection of someone who struggled through a difficult life.
Simple truth: We’re going to go through some crap. Nobody will even remember that it happened if we refuse to put it on a pedestal.
It’s no question that confusion rules the roost today. Listen to any news program for six seconds and you’ll hear the words “depression” and “anxiety” eight times, especially in the context of teenagers but adults are just as affected and so they offer little help to the young ones in need. Feelings of hopelessness and uncertainty simply do not exist in a person who is not confused. We can deduce that the messages fed into the minds of millions do not make sense, and therefore we see the dramatic effect of a population battling between an imaginary reality and reality itself. I, too, would lose my mind if, for example, everyone started reinforcing the idea that a crow is a dog even though I know full well that a dog is a dog and a crow is a crow. If people turned violent when I stated that the crow is not a dog you bet I would be confused and eventually collapse.
This confusion influences businesses because what people say they want and what they actually want is different. The mismatch destroys small business as owners scramble to accommodate a stated desire that in reality is not fully developed. A wonderful example in agriculture is that of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Many people are fiercely passionate about eliminating GMO traits from the food system and their message has become so mainstream that only the very isolated are unaware of the battle between agribusiness and concerned consumers.
The perceived volume of concern makes a strong indication that the farmer should initiate a shift away from GMOs as quickly as possible. Yet it rarely happens. Why? People most passionate about the change aren’t willing to spend enough to make it happen. Dramatic shifts in agriculture will not take place on annual customer expenditures of a hundred dollars. The people protesting in the streets would do better to stop grumping around and start dumping piles of earned income into the farm community (this, of course, necessitates a job). There would be no need for protesting at that point or even policy adjustment because the change would fund itself. I suspect it isn’t really the change in food ingredients these people want, but the attention gained during a protest.
The businesses I visit that have shifted away from GMOs have done so out of their own desire and not as a result of customer demands. There is a significant difference between leading a movement and reacting to a movement.
Truth: Pursue your passion, not the false passion of someone else.
We can look at the world as brimming with opportunity or past its expiration date. Go outside and look around: It ain’t over yet, folks. I see opportunity that is easier to access than we could’ve ever hoped for; when the herd runs over a cliff, a buffalo who stays on top of the plateau finds himself with plenty of food and water thanks to the others’ actions. All the groaning we see on the news is representative of the same situation: Media and government are saying it’s already shot; citizens are following suit. That prevailing attitude leaves a good chance for everyone who chooses to dump the bad news and elevate the good.
Study and enjoy real reality. Pursue your intent based on that reality, not someone else’s imagination. It might be ugly in the moment, but in hindsight a good many people will be grateful you did.