Hope for our world?

Last night, I was very depressed. For a few days now, I have been feeling down. All of the negativity I have been exposed to was just too much for me. I turn on the news and there’s death, murder, violence and hate. I open the newspaper and there’s a ton of bad stuff going on. I get on the computer and people share links to a child being murdered, another ISIS attack somewhere in which thousands of people were slain/beheaded or something about government corruption (the poor getting poorer, the sick getting sicker and the hungry getting hungrier). It doesn’t help that I recently read a true crime book in which people killed a young, innocent girl and basically walked free after serving time. (After I finished reading that book, I lost all hope in humanity. I was so upset and outraged. I guess people can get away with murder now!)

And even with politics, there’s so much hatred and violence going around. Even candidates encouraging people to be violent or hateful towards our fellow human beings. They WANT religion to divide us. They WANT race to divide us. They WANT our nationality to divide us. They are not interested in bringing people together, only in dividing them and encouraging them to adopt the same hateful, discriminating mindset they have. I have grown disgusted with politics because of all the lying, hypocrisy and selfish agendas in every single politician.

It was just too much. Of course, I was also upset about my own personal problems, but I’m not going to get into that.

The world is a huge gigantic mess. It is all so messed up. I have written a book of poems about the negative things in this world and it was hard to write because it made my heart hurt so much.

So I was really upset about it all. And I have just given up hope for the world. I have given up ON the world entirely.

But then I had a dream last night. And to some people, maybe it didn’t mean anything, but it meant something to me.

In the dream, I saw different images of different parts of the world. And during that entire montage, I heard Gene Wilder singing part of that song he sang in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory: “If you want a view of paradise, simply look around and view it. If you want to, do it. Want to change the world, there’s nothing to it.”

Now I realize that song is about being creative and using your imagination to make your dreams come true. It’s also about believing in yourself to accomplish your dreams.

However, given my recent depressive episode, I saw the lines of that song differently. I interpreted them differently.

As so:

“If you want a view of paradise, simply look around and view it.”

This basically means if you are not happy with the state of things, have a clear idea of how you want them to be – what kind of changes you want to make – and keep that as your focus as you work to try to make it happen.

“If you want to, do it.”

I know one person cannot change the world. And with so much bad stuff going on in the world, it may seem overwhelming. Like nobody will care if you do something GOOD for the world or for people. Or it won’t make much difference.

Do it, anyway. It’s enough that you want to. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, donate to a food service for the poor, help the unfortunate, start a program that helps the homeless. If you want to do it, then do it!

“Want to change the world, there’s nothing to it.”

What this line said to me is that it can be the simplest thing that could make a positive difference in the world. Some people may think, “Oh, I’m not smart enough. I need money. I can’t do it alone. I don’t know where to start.” Etc. But really, it’s not that complicated to make a difference. Do a random act of kindness like paying for someone’s lunch or holding a door open for someone. Spread the word about a lost dog or share information about a missing child. The littlest and simplest things can make a positive difference.

Used to be I’d get so upset over the horrible state of our world that I would pray for it. Just pray for the world. But now I know I can take action and do things, too. Positive things. Things that can make a difference. It may not seem like much and I am only one person, but I think if we put more good things out there in the world, all of the bad things will not seem as terrible anymore.