In the last few weeks I’ve noticed a phenomenon that my husband and I have both suffered from. I’ll call it the illusion of influence. We get upset over an issue that is assailing the world. Which one doesn’t really matter, what matters is that it is something widespread and that we have no direct impact on.
I’m a researcher. When something happens, I want to get all the facts and read as much about it as I can. I hate not knowing if what I’m hearing are facts or agenda. I look to people and sources I trust. But there is such a thing as too much research, too much information. It becomes a task onto itself. It gives us a sense of power.
Even better if we share this information on social media with a dash of our own opinion.
If there is a problem with social media it's that it makes us all believe that others need or want to hear our opinions on every possible subject. Click To TweetI’ve always doubted social media as a legit tool to convince anyone of anything.
While it is important to be informed, the gathering of information and opinions it itself is not necessarily accomplishing anything. Reading all the conflicting information and getting hourly updates on the COVID19 cases in my area does nothing to alleviate the suffering of those infected nor protect me and my family.
Staying up to date on the latest economic forecasts and reading every political opinion under the sun on whether we are doing the right thing to balance economic vs. human devastation does nothing to improve the situation of either. But it does make me feel like I’m doing something.
But I’m not actually doing anything.
There are going to be many things in life I can have no direct influence over. But if I fill my life with obsessive research without any sort of practical action I’m simply torching my own life while the world burns.
I heard someone say once that worry is a rocking chair, you’ll wear yourself out and get nowhere.
Whether it’s how the government is handling COVID19, racism in America, or world hunger, those are big picture issues that I cannot impact as an individual, at least not on a large scale. I am neither a major political leader nor super-villan. It is not within my power to forcibly change the hearts and minds of the masses, nor do I want that power.
Does that mean we remain paralyzed and do nothing? No! But we must be deliberate and intentional in our responses.
Find a Practical Way to Start
When I first read about slavery in the chocolate industry I couldn’t quite take it in. It dragged me into a world I wasn’t quite ready to enter, I think it’s a world most Americans and Europeans have been unwilling to see. (I felt similarly when I started my forays into the ethical clothing world).
It was easy to want to unsee it, or to ignore it. I certainly couldn’t fix it singlehandedly. But I needed to do something.
I started buying fair-trade chocolate. When I starting drinking coffee, I bought fair-trade coffee. I began a whole long and beautiful journey into fair trade fashion that as directly impacted how I see the world and changed my perspective on consumption and even charity.
I made sustainable changes. I didn’t just throw out everything in my pantry and closet and start again. I replaced items a few at a time, thoughtfully and deliberately, not in a poorly thought out knee-jerk reaction.
Set A Limit
If too much of your time is spent scrolling social media and lapping up the latest news headlines, put a limit on yourself. Decide on healthy amounts of time you will allocate and then abide by those limits.. (I recently discovered some helpful apps to make that easier).
This will give you more time to process the information and put it into perspective. It will also help make sure that you are still living your life and fulfilling your responsibilities.
Look and Pray For The Moments
We all have influence, it just may not be in the places we think. We need to be looking (and praying, if you are a praying person) for those times when you can make a difference to these big picture issues using what you have. This may mean how you sculpt your family values and raise your children, where you give and spend your money or what you choose to watch and read.
You do the world no favors when you let it crush you and keep you perpetually spinning your wheels. Click To TweetWorry doesn’t actually accomplish anything and it exhausts us to the point where we can’t actually do the work we are called to.
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