I’ve been feeling really frightened about what’s happening in the world lately. Climate change means the world is on fire, isolationism and fascism are quickly on the rise, and vulnerable people seem to be more in danger than ever.
I feel powerless to stop any of this. What can one person do against the wave of existential horror that seems to be crashing constantly on the shore of our lives? I can go vegan; I can speak up against systems of oppression; I can give my spare 50p at the end of the week to those who need it; but it feels like it’s nothing when the world is literally on fire thanks to a handful of billionaires.
It feels like it’s nothing. It’s not nothing.
Just because you can’t save the world, doesn’t mean your actions don’t have consequences. A small, good action still puts good into the world. I’m trying to remember this, and to focus on the power I do have, instead of worrying about what I can’t change.
I volunteer every Friday at a food bank and it doesn’t feel like enough. Volunteering for a few hours a week at my local food bank won’t solve food poverty in the UK, but it will solve the immediate hunger of the fifteen people I helped that day. There are so many more people who need help, but at least I helped a few.
If the only thing I can do is make a handful of people feel a little better than they did yesterday, that’s still something.
All you can do is what you can do. If you can make something a little better today, even if that something is for you, you’re doing ok.
You can also click below to buy me a coffee!
Katy Lees - Therapist & Author 