To make the world a better place, the recipe has always been relatively simple – love, whether or not you receive it in return. Whether you’re religious or not, spiritual or not, most can agree in some form of “karma will always come back around”, the golden rule, etc. as a quality way to choose how to act on a regular basis.

People can be awful at times. They will, consciously or not, decide to lie / cheat / steal from those they claim to love, often with no regard to potential consequences as they pursue the immediate gratification that comes with their choice. There can be justification for rash responses, but often that idea of retaliation / revenge comes from the same part of the soul that your counterpart is still battling with themselves. Choosing to be the bigger person in that moment can feel like an insurmountable mountain to climb, but the long term mental health benefit is much too great to ignore. 

When someone posts something online that you inherently disagree with, it shouldn’t motivate you to assault them with a barrage of unfair insults and degrading comments. Often, their willingness to post publicly about it comes from a place where they are looking for a constructive dialogue on how to face an issue together, not on how to divide us more. Our national media outlets do a great job of that already – anyone who even mentions CNN or Fox News immediately gets labeled “one side” or “the other side” in most minds, because of the stereotypes these outlets are willingly embracing for the sake of causing a scene (AKA creating more content).

As things continue to unfold the next couple weeks with this strand of coronavirus, I humbly plead with everyone to remember that there are so many unique ways to show love of neighbor. One day, it might be helping a coworker who can’t afford the babysitting cost to be able to come into work that day. Another day, it might be having a geniune conversation with a homeless person, who isn’t actually looking for a handout but is looking for the right resources to get on the right path… but isn’t aware of what is around because they are new to town. 

Even still, some of our more vulnerable neighbors whose immune systems aren’t capable of handling going out and grocery shopping… it takes such a small amount of effort to grab an extra bag or two at the store for them, and yet in their lives you are making a difference of incomparable value. Instead of the online badgering and commenting that gets us nowhere, constantly be looking for the potential to be of true value in the conversation and activity at hand.

“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” – Sun Tzu