Why are we so affected by the events that we see on the news? For many of us, the massacre in Nice took place across the ocean.\u00a0 Yet we felt grief when we learned of the tragedy.\u00a0 The same holds true for 9\/11.\u00a0 I was living in New York City at the time.\u00a0 As a result, I felt the tragedy of that day very immediately and personally.\u00a0 Yet, I know people who were nowhere near the Pentagon or the World Trade Centers who likewise were shaken up by that day.<\/p>\n
Of course, the 24-hour news media\u2019s style of reporting contributes to our emotional response to such events. But it is more than that.\u00a0 When we see events, like those in Nice or Paris or Istanbul, we think, \u201cThat easily could have been me.\u201d\u00a0 And we, in turn, are overwhelmed by a feeling of helplessness.<\/p>\n
The reality is that one person, especially one mentally ill person with delusions of religious righteousness, can destroy many lives singlehandedly. The person\u2019s target can be a public space, an abortion clinic, an airport \u2013 any place that he feels inspired to do evil.\u00a0 For instance, right now I am having a cup of tea at a bookstore.\u00a0 There is nothing stopping a disgruntled individual from walking in and shooting me and all the other patrons, a bunch of innocent people who just love books.<\/p>\n
Does one person\u2019s ability to inflict tragic harm render the rest of us helpless? Yes.\u00a0 And no.\u00a0 The reality is that we are vulnerable every time we walk out the front door.\u00a0 Unless you are going to lock yourself up in your house and never leave, you are vulnerable.\u00a0 We are helpless to control our circumstances.<\/p>\n
However, our power<\/em> doesn\u2019t come from our circumstances.\u00a0 Our circumstances are dictated by luck.\u00a0 Sometimes we have good luck.\u00a0 And sometimes we have bad luck.\u00a0 Being born with good looks or intelligence is good luck.\u00a0 Being born into a family who has money is good luck.\u00a0 Having dysfunctional parents is bad luck.\u00a0 Being raised in the inner city is bad luck.\u00a0 Marrying a man who turns out to be an abuser is bad luck.\u00a0 Being in the wrong place at the wrong time during a terrorist attack is bad luck.\u00a0 Our circumstances are based on purely on luck and have nothing to do with who we are or where our power comes from.<\/p>\n Our power comes from the decisions that we make and the actions that we take in our circumstances.<\/em> So the powerful woman is the one who leaves her abusive husband.\u00a0 The powerful child is the one who tells his teacher that he is being bullied.\u00a0 The powerful man is the one who acts morally, even when all his peers are compromising their values.<\/p>\n You are powerful if you suffer a tragedy and still find a way to move forward and do something beautiful with your life. I know a couple whose daughter died in a car accident when she was nineteen.\u00a0 She was their only child.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how you get through a tragedy like that.\u00a0 Yet, they have not withdrawn from the world.\u00a0 They have carried on.\u00a0 They have a strong marriage and are such good people.\u00a0 They bless every person they come in contact with, and I am blessed just to know them.<\/p>\n You are powerful when you fail at something, and instead of giving up, you try again. One of our most respected presidents, Abraham Lincoln, experienced countless failures and tragedies.\u00a0 Yet he kept trying and achieved great things for our country.\u00a0 His decision to never give up was one of his most powerful attributes.<\/p>\n We are helpless to control our circumstances, but we are powerful in our ability to control ourselves. Our power lies in our every action and every decision.\u00a0 Now, more than ever, it is imperative that we choose to exercise our power to make the world a better place.\u00a0 Yes, one person can wreak some havoc.\u00a0 But the sick and evil individuals of this world are no match for the rest of us when we decide each day to do the right thing no matter what.\u00a0 In the end, our goodness will prevail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Why are we so affected by the events that we see on the news? For many of us, the massacre in Nice took place across the ocean.\u00a0 Yet we felt grief when we learned of the tragedy.\u00a0 The same holds true for 9\/11.\u00a0 I was living in New York City at the time.\u00a0 As a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n