You can help yourself

In times of worry or stress, the fundamental question often boils down to “Why me?” Or, “Why this?” Or, “Why now?” For answers, many people turn to prayer or to scriptural readings in holy books like the Bible, the Qur’an or the Torah for solace and answers. Others look to poetry, theater, art or music for guidance. Philosophy, comedy and movement are alternatives. But all these methods have been around for thousands of years and, still, nothing changes. Or does it?

In the face of powerful forces that seem unstoppable or overwhelming, despair or disengagement might feel like the only response that will work because we see ourselves as powerless. But that’s not true.

Holy words can bring comfort and comfort can bring change of heart, even if there is no change in circumstance. The same is true for poetry, comedy or movement. Move a muscle, change a thought, goes the saying.

So, yes. Something does change. You are not powerless. You have control over your mind and, thereby, your heart.

Just as there will always be great storms in nature, there will always be great greed among the powerful.  Both can be destructive, and we are always given the opportunity to learn from the experience. And so we fluctuate between collective moments of tranquil peace and collective ages of turbulent chaos.

In The Consolation of Philosophy, one of the most influential, widely read works of the Middle Ages, the author Boethius – once a highly regarded Roman aristocrat and senator, then fallen out of favor and sentenced him to death – holds a conversation between himself and Lady Philosophy, attempting to answer the eternal question, “Why me?” He’d lived a life of scholarship and good citizenship, translating and teaching texts of Aristotle and Plato. It is a timeless dialogue that you might hear today. When Lady Philosophy tells Boethius (this was written around the year 526) that “nature is satisfied with very little, while nothing is enough for avarice,” all I could think was how little has changed in the ensuing 2000 years.*

So, don’t give in to despair and discouragement. Don’t lose hope. We are humans and this is how we have always lived. Storms pass. And there are plenty of good people ready to step in and clean up. As Fred Rogers told us, “Look for the helpers.”

Keep your heart safe and sound. Be prepared so you can be a helper. Start now.

 * (Note: I read the Ignatius Critical Edition, © 2012, and I found the footnotes and additional commentary very enriching.)

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10/26/2025