Are you tired of hearing so much bad news? Do you find the world landscape desolate? Does it produce anxiety, frustration and impotence within you?
We usually forget that hope comes from small moments in everyday life. I invite you to observe how the world is built on trust and service. Of course! It is possible to create hope.
I opened the online newspaper today and saw news of disputes in the government, wars we wish would end but don’t, and poverty and unemployment rates.
My reading lasted only 20 minutes, but I am left with a feeling of bitterness. I still have questions about how we could live in a better world and what I could do.
Has the same thing happened to you?
I immediately realize: who does my discouragement help? It certainly doesn’t help me, and it doesn’t help anyone else either.
I go out for a walk. As I walk, I observe. I see a man fixing his garden next door. I see children on their way to school. I see people going to their jobs. Some I know: she is a nurse, that gentleman is a bricklayer, and that other young woman is a teacher. Everyone will do what they do best: to care, build and teach.
A network of trust that sustains the world… and you didn’t know that.
I wonder in how many other places I would see a similar scene. How many people in cities around the world are heading to their jobs or occupations today? How many of these unknown and anonymous individuals play an important role in society?
I realize that we live in a vast web of relationships, interchange, and service—a network in which we are interdependent.
I take a sip of water. How many people whom I don’t know have made it possible for me to safely drink this water? Yes, when I stop to think about it, the chain is almost endless.
Now I invite you to step away from your favorite screen (phone, television, tablet, computer) for a few minutes, disconnect from social media and news, and look around you. Discover the ordinary people you encounter in your daily life. These individuals, even with their flaws, get up every day and do their best to support their families, carry out their work, and pursue their aspirations. How many are there? 20? 100? Thousands? Millions?
What about the millions of scientists, doctors, nurses, gardeners, teachers, cleaning staff, public transport drivers, builders, farmers, and those who make food, among so many others?
Can you feel that living in this world is worthwhile? Note that we are connected to countless people we do not know, who do not make headlines or post viral content, but who do valuable things and want the best. Perhaps we are unaware that, even without knowing each other, we serve one another in a network of trust.
Yes, trust… trust in the doctor, in the teacher, in the bus driver.
Of course, there is suffering as well. I feel the pain that is present, knocking at the door of many. Perhaps, to some extent, it knocks at all our doors, including my own.
However, there is also trust, love, and hope.
The power of gratitude
Now that I have returned home, something has changed. My consciousness has expanded. The bitter and discouraged feeling I had earlier has vanished and transformed into another feeling, another vibration: gratitude.
Gratitude for the countless miracles of everyday life, gratitude towards you and so many others, known and unknown, who make my life possible. Gratitude because what I do makes sense, even if no one is aware of it.
I want to generate that energy for myself and offer it to you, my environment, society, and the world. I am building confidence and hope.
I invite you to pause for a moment, let go of all the noise, and carefully observe what is around you. Try to recognize and thank the ordinary people who, through their daily movements and actions, build a better world. Allow yourself to be enveloped by love, gratitude, and trust, and also be part of a revolution of hope.
