Listening to the news and seeing the variety of reactions, it seems to me that much of what happens resembles a growing whirlwind of events one wouldn’t have imagined just a few months ago.
The challenge such a situation presents is to remain respectful towards others, the world as it is, and oneself.
An easy reaction is to reject what is happening, to call others crazy, and to disconnect oneself from the world and what is happening in it. Another is to engage oneself in actions trying to solve the problem one perceives while denying that they are beyond one’s control.
The much more difficult reaction is to figure out the constructive actions that are accessible to oneself. A tension to bear in this context is the one that exists between our instinctive reactions and the knowledge available to us.
Instinctive reactions are based on intuition, a sense we have of knowing it clearly or having a strong sense of what is right. Connecting with our knowledge confronts us with the facts we know. It leads to a sense of being limited and within a space of unpredictability. There is always more one could know. Our understanding of what is right is confronted with a variety of perspectives and contrasting ideas.
This is where having a position provides an anchor towards all possible perspectives. Among other advantages, having a position serves as a base. It determines actions accessible to us as well as those beyond one’s control. It enables seeing each other’s responsibilities and acting accordingly. It enables our leadership.
Paying attention to responsibilities enables accountability. Neither of them includes what we perceive to be right for the world. Responsibility and accountability are descriptive of what is within our control and what we’ve been asked to do as a result of the roles we have. Some roles we have chosen, others we can’t give up, as life has given them to us.
Respect is the result of remaining attentive to our roles. It can’t happen without attention to the way other people implement their roles within our society.
