'Alfred: Why do we
fall, sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.' – Batman
Begins
Being able to rise again
when no one would expect us to do so – that's why I still have some
hope left for our species.
Nevertheless, we do tend to focus too much
on our failures, which is, rather ironically, what I am doing at this
moment (even if they are not my failures,
per se). The difference stems from the fact that I am trying
to make a point. So bear with me, my dear, vociferous readers.
It's quite impossible not
to notice how, far too often, we fixate on our shortcomings to the
exclusion of all else. And I do not mean the bit of (almost) harmless
perfectionism or permanent dissatisfaction with personal
accomplishments we may observe here and there in this peculiar world
of ours – I was, in actuality, referring to our terribly annoying
habit to presume that we cannot.
We think we can't
be better. We can. We say we
can't change anything in this world. We can. We give up, we despair,
we conform. We remain silent and on our knees. Yet, we choose
to do all that. And we, as a
global society, can make a better choice.
This,
as ever, begins with a single person. Each and every one of us is a
reflection, to some extent, of the communities from which they
emerged – of the idiosyncrasies of our day and age, if you will.
But also of the most common societal character traits and cultural
practices that are at the heart of who we are as people.
Do
we choose to accept and go on unperturbed, or do we dig deeper and
try to rise from within our deep indignation at the reality we can
now see? You and I both know, I hope, that each and every day is a
challenge that is only going to become greater with time. And this is
it. This is all we have, when all is said and done. It's you and the
people you care for in the context of a Universe where the existence (or lack thereof) of our entire species, our planet and our solar system is irrelevant.
We
can either stay down, unwilling to see beyond what we know – or we
can go above and beyond ourselves to reach further that we ever
expected and find strength we never knew we had. We can face this
world with the supreme confidence that, in each and every thing we
do, we will do
everything within our abilities: and then rise above our limitations
to become more than we can.
We
are stronger than we know, I think. And whenever we may fall, let us
lend each other a helping hand – along with a word of hope. I
choose to believe we can make it through the night.
Let
our spirits be tempered in the fires of Life.
