THE world is a messed-up place. Every half-hour your newsfeed refreshes with yet another article or video detailing the inhumanity that goes on in a certain corner of Planet Earth. You would be naïve to believe that these are all fake news; after all, when imperfect creatures like humans try to run a perfect system, there are bound to be inconsistencies everywhere. But are we just supposed to get annoyed and lathered up over everything? (You probably know people like this, and, most likely, they strike you more as insufferable as opposed to being righteous). My point here is not to tell you to turn a blind eye to the woes we face as a society. I’m simply trying to suggest “selective caring.”
If you react to every single piece of bad news you come along, your BP would shoot up higher than the New Orleans Pelicans’ expectations for Zion Williamson (that’s an NBA reference). If you also choose to cover your ears and eyes to drown out all the negativity in the world (as some people erroneously believe that a “happy” life is the most fulfilled life), you would end up indifferent to everything. As with everything in life, we need to try to strike a balance between #woke Robocop and indifferent psychopath. Easier said than done, but here’s my suggestion how.
The one thing we need to do is identify the things we care about. Say your family and your community (especially the kids in your community) matter to you. So when you get worked up over news about the things you care about, people take you seriously, and you will probably have more energy and resources to allocate to that thing. If everything you see manages to deeply disturb you at a cellular level, you will only end up drained and discouraged; pick your battles and then charge in with full force.
Conversely, this will make it obvious what we don’t care about. If you want to establish a program for the less fortunate in Cebu, you won’t give a hoot about whether some people are snickering behind your back and calling you a village idiot—the thing you care about supersedes caring about the opinions of others. You become focused, which in this “Jack of all trades” culture is a very rare thing, and formidable—Bruce Lee reminded us to fear the man who practiced one kick 10,000 times over a man who practiced 10,000 kicks once.
So take a good look around at the things you feel you can impact the most (news flash: there are lots) and then pick the ones that really speak to you. It’s only through our care and action that the world can be changed for the better.