Crisis, catastrophe and coronavirus: what now?

Reading the news I am struck by the sheer volume of crisis headlines over the past few years: the country splitting apart over Brexit, refugees seeking safe haven from warring parts of Europe, climate change spawning storms and floods on our very doorsteps and the mass extinction of species, and now coronavirus. A roll call of Biblical events foretelling the end of times? Certainly I have no reason to doubt the gravity of all the situations I read about. I am left wondering “what am I to do? Which crisis can I help avert and how?”
And then I stop and take a breath.
I need to broaden my focus to get a sense of perspective.
I realise I have been stirred up by a 24/7 rolling news feed and that of itself deserves a little exploration. News used to be a daily affair in the papers, each with its own bias and tone. News today means money: advertisers and programme makers need to show results to their funders. Funders need to see high numbers of viewers/listeners so programmes compete to be the most shrill, confrontational, sensational to get our attention. Being human it can be hard to turn away from the unfolding drama.

I take another breath.

I turn off the news and ground myself. I look around - what do I see? I name things (this is surprisingly calming). Plant, chair, window, view…
I think of my day ahead. What does it consist of? Work, food, friends, family?
I notice I feel more space around me, I feel calmer noticing that my immediate world has not changed.

I take another breath.

The news pops back into my head to remind me that I might be missing important information. I notice that I feel I can choose to allow a little of what I read earlier back in. It’s still worrying but less urgent. I also notice I feel less alone - I have friends, family, work colleagues. I have neighbours, a local community.
My world grows again.

I take another breath.

The news is still the news. There are still crises out there, but feeling overwhelmed won’t help me or anyone. I know the first thing I need to do is step back, take a breath, connect with those closest to me and work through my thoughts and feelings.
Believing something needs to happen doesn’t mean I am able to be the one to do it. And I need support from others if I come to that conclusion for that is a hard feeling to manage. Acceptance of what I can’t do frees me up to think about what I can do - from encouraging others to share their thoughts and feelings to making changes in the way I go about things. I may not be able to change the world, but I can change how I speak, act, feel.

Mahatma Gandhi said “As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.”

To which I add these words from the great man of science Stephen Hawking, confined to a wheelchair without even his own voice to speak with said “It matters that you don't just give up”.

From these great thinkers and doers I take heart and it leads me to this guiding principle:

Don’t judge what you do to be inadequate. You will never know what the world would have been if you hadn’t done it.