Can you hear the noise?
It’s been building steadily over the last couple of weeks. It’s become almost deafening.
It’s the sound of bleating.
Coping with change is an ongoing challenge. We all find change hard sometimes because it constitutes a threat to our brain. We resist it – unless we see that the change is going to be for our benefit. In other words “What’s in it for me?”
Sometimes our resistance to change can blinker our ability to look beyond what is happening in “our world” and keep things in perspective for what they really are.
All this noise around the budget (and no, I’m not looking forward to hearing what it will actually involve either) is really just a distraction from reflecting on just how much we really do have to be grateful for.
Sensing impending change and the fear of the associated pain from the potential loss of income, of previously awarded benefits, of the delay of other promises, of higher petrol prices and utility costs, it’s not unnatural to voice your displeasure, your sense of outrage, of dismay. The bleating has been getting louder and louder.
Last week I read in the newspaper about the story of a young 17 year old named Sean who, when doing some community service in a school in a more deprived part of Perth had noticed that while many of the kids appeared happy and friendly, many lacked “sturdy” shoes. Upset by the reality that some kids living in a wealthy city such as Perth could not have what many of us take for granted, he determined to raise some money to buy new shoes for the older kids, which could then be handed down to their younger siblings.
His efforts were so successful, he raised enough money to buy every child in the school community of 207 pupils, a new pair of school shoes and a pair of trainers.
This young man saw a need and rather than ignoring it or bleating about it, simply decided something had to be done to help.
So this week as we gird our loins to be told what pain we will have to endure to help put Australia back on track, rather than focusing on about how much this is going to hurt, maybe we could start first by reflecting on what we already have: Good health, good food, a safe place to live, a job, a loving relationship. Then to look outside to see what and where the real needs are, and get on with doing something ourselves, to help someone else.
Do we bleat too much?
How do you try to keep a sense of perspective?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Photo Credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/10484034@N08/6197373296/”>Swasti Verma
