This Is Not A Drill

I'm a Dr Who fan. This is surprising to ... well, exactly no one, I would imagine.

The thing about Dr Who, though, is that he has forever, can meander about through time, and when things get out of hand, he just ... regenerates. Easy peasy. *

The thing about me and, I'm relatively certain, you, is that we do not have forever. We only have right now, because our lives have finite timelines. Even if you believe in reincarnation or some sort of afterlife, you know that for this level of consciousness, you have a limited number of moments in which to exercise your will.

I get annoyed about this.

Not because I think I should have an unlimited amount of fun tickets to spend whooping it up on this plane of existence -- I actually think that would NOT, ultimately, be festive -- but because so many of us spend the time we do have here making each other completely and utterly miserable.

We deny each other rights.

We wage war on each other.

We are cruel in a million large ways and a billion tiny ones.

We ignore each other.

We fail to take care of each other.

And the yelling. OH THE YELLING.

It seems to me -- and I will admit right here that I am no expert -- that when you've got less than forever, you should use your time well. By well, I mean: be kind. Be generous. Allow space in your world for equality. See and consider your fellow beings. And perhaps, stop yelling.

Because the truth is that your days are numbered. You can spend them in conflict, unhappy, angry -- or you can choose to spend them in joy.

You can yell yourself hoarse or you can speak softly. You may be more likely to be heard that way.

You can be a person who raises a hand in a fist, or you can be one who extends an open hand. To a friend OR to a stranger, it doesn't matter. Everyone needs a hand now and then.

You can and should fight, but maybe you should fight for someone instead of against them.

I'm mentioning this now because it's election season, here in the US, and I am tired of the ways in which we argue and denounce and point. It makes me sad that we spend so much time being right -- I'MRIGHTI'MRIGHTYOU'REWRONGI'MRIGHT -- and so little time listening to each other.

Our time here is SO short.

Could we try using it better?





*To other Dr Who fans: I am aware that I am waaaaaaay oversimplifying. This is not meant to be a blog about Dr Who. At least, not yet.