The Compass

Let’s face it. We aren’t going to fix the world in our short days here. But we can contribute to its betterment by filling our days with the choices we make for goodness, hour by hour, in our own lives.

Inside us all, regardless of the form our beliefs take, is a compass that guides us toward the recognition of beauty, and goodness, and truth. We may not always succeed in following that guidance. We’re all too easily distracted by the promise of satisfaction of less worthy desires. We give in to anger and resentment, to the glitter and thrill of false gold and false gods. We grab at immediate satisfaction of passing desires instead of taking a more long-range view and aiming toward higher goals. We choose ease over effort.

But our inner compass continues to guide us nonetheless. Its light cannot be extinguished. And in that fact lies our hope.

I may have fallen short of my ideals today. But the ideals themselves survive. And at every moment, I am free to choose to make choices more in alignment with them. Even when I don’t feel like it. Even when I’m tired, and worn, and discouraged or depressed. And something in me knows, absolutely knows, that choosing the thoughts, the words, and the deeds toward which my inner compass points will bring me deeper satisfaction and more joy than persisting in my mistaken ways.

I can choose to act with kindness and respect even when I am awash with irritation or disgust. And doing so will shift things. It will expand my capacity for patience and open me to the possibilities for compassion, and forgiveness, for friendship, for love.

As it to prove my point, the outer world suddenly throws my train of thought off the tracks. Interruptions are the greatest enemy of the writer I once heard a fellow author say. They can make you want to pull your hair out.

I decide to take a break to gather my thoughts and to walk outside to greet the beauty of this mild spring day. Tulips and a daffodil are blooming in my garden, and wildflowers grace the hill. I stoop to take photos of them and of the unfurling ferns. Then I return to my laptop, a fresh cup of coffee at my side, and begin to focus. Before I can type a single word, I become aware of a slight tingling on my upper arm. It’s a tick, burrowing into my flesh. I race to find the cedar oil to spray on it, causing it to back out, and the tweezers to remove it.

I notice a wave of anger and resentment rising in me. The toxicity of the ticks we have here is, my research has led me to believe, man-made, much like the strain of virus that has set the whole world into a tizzy. The evils we face are horrendous and pervasive. As you become aware of them, it’s tempting to sink into despair. But that would be a surrender to them. And as a committed Joy Warrior, I refuse to allow them to win.

As I return to my writing, I pause for one last glimpse out the window. The chipmunk has come to eat the walnut meats that I set out for him on my walk. Behind him, the growing leaves of the lilac bush dance in a gentle wind. I let myself drink in the loveliness of the scene and it acts as an elixir, extinguishing my anger, replacing it with an awareness of omnipresent grace.

It’s a choice. We can be conscious of the wrongs that assault us and rail against them. Or we can open ourselves to the abundance of goodness that surrounds us and find in it hope that we will yet overcome the forces of darkness. If we can do that, if we can look for the good, we can build on it. We can allow it to clarify our understanding of what nourishes life and decide to play our parts in furthering those things.

Each of us has our own unique role to play, our own unique set of weapons to use in the fight for goodness. It’s our job, our duty, to discover and develop our most suitable roles, to hone those strengths that are most suited to us individually. And we do that by attuning ourselves to the guidance of our inner compass and determining to follow it. Yours will likely be a wholly different role than mine. We need us all. We are in this battle together. And every choice that we make counts. Even the smallest, the ones we make moment-to-moment.

Be strong. Be determined not to give in. Be honest. Honor and respect the roles that others play. Do good wherever and however you can. Forgive yourself and others when we fall prey to the weaker sides of our nature, and lift each other up. Believe in our resiliency. Believe in your inner compass, and know that its name is Love. Then fight on, choice by choice. We’re counting on you.