Ripple Effects: Simple Acts of Kindness & Human Decency
When will we as a country, as human beings, provide the best mental health services in the world and set an example for all; when will we invest in the long-term care and well-being of our each other; when will we stop…I mean really stop and say enough…enough veteran suicides; enough gun-shootings; enough homelessness; enough drug-additions; enough misinformation; enough hate and division…instead of continuing through the motions of pausing…ever briefly…to pay our respects and “thoughts & prayers”…before moving on…on to the next short-term metric; the next political calendar; the next quarterly report…the metaverse. Kenneth Omar Santiago wrote:
“At times I think my close friends just tolerate me. Moreover, I feel truly alone. I always have. For a long time (years) I’ve known I would take my own life…On my way out, I can’t help to wonder if I ever made a difference in the world”. Every single human being asks themselves “do I matter…have I made a difference”.
For those who give more than they receive: (Veterans of the Military, IC, Foreign Service), healthcare professionals fighting against COVID and the deniers of it, that is a more frequent question. I wish, for each of us, that we understand (and believe) that ultimately the differences we make in the world are not through “big” actions, but rather the ripple effects that we often will never see through the basic and simple acts of kindness and human decency. A recent example, for many Veterans who have worked to get friends, comrades, brothers & sisters out of Afghanistan they can never do enough in their mind…but one person, one family…the positive ripple effects (that they may never see) from just one…it’s enough. For me I’m reminded of what Clint Smith has said that provides perspective for just doing what we can each an every day…
“The world as it exists today is not static…we can build a world in which different decisions are made…and different sets of opportunities are distributed in a much more equitable way. That is long and difficult work…the nature of living in our social media age and our moment is that people often want something to change and change very quickly…there are things that should absolutely change…very quickly…but it is to say the larger work…the paradigm of change is long and hard and difficult (i.e., I work in prisons, and I want to live in a world where mass incarceration does not exist. I also except that I might not live to see that world, but that doesn’t mean I don’t continue to fight for it). I think we are all chipping away at this wall for as long as we can, the best we can, and we don’t really know how thick the wall is and when we’ll reach the other side of it. But what is true that when we move on, someone else will come behind us and will be closer to the end of that wall or the other side of that wall because of the chipping away that we have done. It is an intergenerational job, it’s intergenerational work…it always has been.
“I believe there is a better future to fight for…I simply accept the possibility that I may not live to see it…”
— Clint Smith
I spent almost every day at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to help inspire me…to give me hope and energy…and peace. And perhaps that was the final peace for Kenneth Omar Santiago. Our job…our responsibility…is to work everyday to fix what is broken; to improve what doesn’t work; to help each other be the best individuals we can be for each other…to give hope and appreciation to each other…to help save our Union.
#veteransuicide #mentalhealth
