A quick note on disparities. There is so much discussion, conflict, outrage over the disparity of wealth in the US, the world, our little blue globe that floats out there in space, circling an enormous ball of hot gas on fire. While riding my bicycle to work, my brain clicked on something quite controversial but I know I have been feeling it for a while. I don't care too much about wealth disparity. It is not the disparity that bothers me, it is the fact that 20,000 people die per day of starvation. If everyone had what they needed, why would I care if someone was so needy that they had to have 500 million dollars... who cares? If everyone was fed, clothed, educated (in a beneficial/culturally appropriate/mindful way), were given freedom to pursue their dreams and never see war... would it matter that one person had 500 million dollars if everyone always had at least 100,000 in the bank?
Depending on how you spin large facts/data about the human population, it can either sound hopeful or hopeless, good or bad. Have you ever sat down for a moment and thought, just in this one second if you were required to look at each person who was alive, each square inch of land, each event that happened, no amount of books could ever capture it. So you only were able to experience such a small fraction of life in that one second, in fact, your eyes made up more than half your vision in that second from memory/filling blind spots so hardly anything you saw was the "real thing". Understanding how limited we are in what we can know, it can humble us into the realization that we cannot know everything. No matter how many books we read, how many universities we attend, no matter how many years we live. Ideas, experiences, scenes, voices, words, sights, slip through our brains, many moments never to be remembered again.
Sure numbers matter, people matter, poverty matters, death/war/destruction/unthinkable evil is awful and should be prevented so humans will not suffer but also take a moment to let the unknowingness and made upness of your world and ideas sink in. Our knowledge is limited, our worldview skewed, our opinions biased and possibly insane ~ don't put too much pressure on the human race or our minds. We can spend our whole lives fighting the corruption, the war, the pain, the unfairness in life but only as long as it makes life meaningful for you. To make yourself miserable by helping others is a sad life to live and defeats the purpose. Act on your limited information that you have had the privilege to retain and BE THE HAPPINESS YOU SEEK. People will always disagree with you, you will never do "enough" to "save" the world, you will never know enough, stop enough, give enough. Just be. Let it go, you are your worst critic ~ leave these people and their skewed opinions behind and love everyone with pure heart that first and foremost has no judgement for yourself.
No guilt, love yourself, treat yourself well, love those within reach ~ have compassion for all. We are all very, very limited and insane but beyond our limitations in the mind, we are unlimitedness, the essence of everything itself. Find that in yourself and relax into the flow of life -- This illusion can be changed for the better whether you let it make you feel bad or not, whether you suffer over the suffering or not.
