Hope in a Time of Helplessness

How to Find Peace, Purpose, and Connection When the Bad News is Overwhelming

I am a fortunate man. I’m in good health. My marriage is exceptional. My adult children are finding their way through life, with its inevitable joys and struggles. My grandchildren are adorable. I have my faith to guide me forward, and close friends and family to share in my joys and sorrows. Writing Wealth & Fulfillment gives me purpose as I weave together my life experience and insights.

All good - except I find myself struggling to cope with the flood of bad news battering our world. There is so much hate and divisiveness, leaving me angry and fearful. My blood pressure is up. My muscles are tense. I’m sleeping less soundly.

My soul aches.

I tell myself to turn off the news. It makes no sense to focus on events I can’t influence, much less control. Still, tuning out is hard—maybe impossible for me. World events still seep into my consciousness. I ruminate over what I should do.

I know I’m not alone. Many friends share my angst. What can we do? I am beginning to discern a new direction—less like a solution and more like a compass.

I want to be the antidote to division and distrust. I want to see each person as inherently valuable. May I notice their strengths and gifts, honor their struggles, and see their humanity. I want to greet people with warm smiles and kind eyes as I listen with curiosity, ask genuine questions, and reflect back what I hear to minimize misunderstandings. I want to share my perspective with stories that are honest and balanced. Knowing both sides hold a piece of the truth, I want to seek common ground.

I want to ground myself in the present. Focus on what’s happening now - not on what I fear may happen someday. My fears rarely materialize, and my worrying never helps.

I want to bask in the good that surrounds me - mornings filled with sunshine, cool winds, and chirping birds. Loving parents raising kind children. Adult children caring for aging parents. Local nonprofits serving the lonely, hungry, and homeless. Medical research creating groundbreaking treatments allowing so many to live longer, fuller lives. I’ve seen remarkable progress in my lifetime. We live in an age of miracles my grandparents never dreamed of.

Future challenges await me. Everyone struggles with loss and difficulty. I pray for the presence to accept what is, and the strength to walk forward with wisdom, grace, and love. That’s a tall order. Thankfully, I’m surrounded by people who love me - and I’m supported by a faith that guides me.

When I feel overwhelmed by the avalanche of bad news, I remind myself:

I can’t fix the whole world, but I can make a difference in my corner of it.

I can be generous in my philanthropy, supporting organizations that tackle homelessness, hunger, injustice and more. I can bring groceries to a food pantry, check on a friend having a rough time, stand up to intolerance when I encounter it.

I can look a homeless person in the eye and treat them like someone who matters - because they do.

Doing this may feel like a tall order. How do you begin? Just start. One small act of unexpected kindness. Human to human. Eye to eye. Ask the grocery store cashier how their day is going. Buy them a candy bar. Thank them. Watch them smile. Notice how you feel.

Compliment someone on a job well done. Help them see what makes them special. Watch them smile. Notice how you feel. Then do it again and again.

Those good feelings are contagious. They motivate us to do more. They align us with what it means to be human - connected, compassionate, and alive.

And it helps. You’ll feel better. More loving. More hopeful. More human.

Will it make all the world’s troubles go away and make your angst disappear? No. It won’t. I wish it would. We can’t just ignore the afflictions of others. We all need to be part of the solution to the world’s woes. I hope my actions will create a ripple effect encouraging others to do the same.

Each of us must choose our own path. I have friends who have quit high-paying corporate jobs to become teachers or taken considerable pay cuts to work for nonprofits whose work they passionately support. Other friends are working at the grassroots level to elect leaders whose values reflect their own, and to protest against the injustices they see in the world.

None of us can fix the whole world. Each of us can be a light in the small corner that we are lucky enough to inhabit.

Until our next conversation,

David

Small Steps & Worthy Questions

• Avoid looking at the news until you have been awake for several hours. Notice how you feel compared to your usual routine.

• What’s something you are worried about that’s beyond your influence? Can you let it go, even a little?

• Find a way to take action on a cause you care about.

• Compliment someone today—make it specific and genuine.

• Take a quiet walk and name three good things you see or feel.

• Call or write a short note to someone who’s struggling or been on your mind.

• Think about whether you are living in alignment with the values you most admire? Where are you out of step?

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