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Politics Is Life |
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Wisdom is Dancing . . . Even in the Rain
It's that all-American myth that poverty builds character, and wealth and riches breed despair. Foolish myths aside, there does, indeed, seem to be forces out there, pulling against average Americans' chance at happiness. Forces such as the 6 0'clock newscasters who report doom twenty-four/Seven - for our edification, of course. The social scientists smugly offering analyses of why we do some of the horrible things we do -- the rampant child abuse, the thoughtless killings, the world-wide scare called terrorism.
And, then there are the economic analysts who tell us, in a nutshell, if you haven't got it now, you likely won't be able to get it any time soon. Economically speaking…the sky is, indeed, falling. The egg-heads, the historians offer up a bit of philosophy by questioning why Americans would expect any real happiness given the unfinished business -- racism, sexism, ageism, gender issues - still staring us all in the face. More to nip at our every spark of optimism.
There are, in fact, enough scary voices out there telling us why we can't possibly be happy -- and should never, ever expect to be happy that it's amazing to see anyone smile or laugh anymore.
The terrible fact is, there are enough atrocities going on in our communities, to put a frown on the most optimistic of faces. Ugly things targeting our children, women, and older people that should make us angry and take action. Then, there are the countless souls trying hard to nurture loving relationships and discovering that there just isn't enough "soup" for their troubles, to go around.
Yet, even with gloom and doom being a stark reality of the day; if we are to survive this "time," then, we have to believe that happiness, in the end, is a personal choice. One very wise man, overwhelmed with life's problems and his personal demons, asked God simply to give him the wisdom to change the things he had power to change, and the grace to accept the things he couldn't. That simple prayer changed a miserable, unhappy soul into…if not a happy one; then, certainly a contented one.
Nothing outside that man's skin had changed: not the air, not the water, the temperature, the darkness of night, or the morning sun. What had changed was his realization of his own inner power, and his limited power over things outside himself. With time and the gift of wisdom, we learn that happiness comes from inside the brown or black or white or yellow skin that enshrines our spirits --not outside it. That it is not life's ups and downs that tie us to unhappiness, it is our personal decision to embrace the world's unhappiness and call it our own.
Fools and Angels, the pure and witless creatures of this earth, dance in the rain. They dance during the darkest of storms. They dance in the midst of an unhappy world…and, so, must we.
Janis F. Kearney is a Chicago writer, former journalist and diarist to President Bill Clinton. A Harvard W.E.B. Du Bois Fellow, she is currently completing William Jefferson Clinton: From Hope to Harlem; and a personal memoir, Cotton Field of Dreams.
Kearney Communications 5138 S. Kenwood Ave.#2 Chicago, IL 60615 (773) 493-2007 --ph (773) 493-5747 --fax janisfk@aol.com |
Isn't it an amazing that for most of us, the further we move up that proverbial ladder of success and riches; the less happiness we seem to derive from it all?