Short, middle, and long term perspectives

Last week I wrote about the shooting in Atlanta Georgia.  Now there was another in Boulder Colorado.  Who knows how many others not widely published? (Gun violence archive) We have about 4.4% of the world population and own 42% of the guns. In terms of mass shootings, we are far and away #1. (However, Yemen, in terms of population, also has high gun ownership and gun deaths.)

Wait, wait, wait, I’m not going to talk about another problem. Last week’s post was rather depressing. We have a target-rich environment for improving things. However, reading about the problems can be overwhelming.

Peace Corps Lesson

Two great friends in northern Ghana - God bless their homeland


So a bit of perspective about how I view things starting with an example as a traditional Peace Corps volunteer. They say it is two years, but you also have about 3 months of training so 27 months, something like 800 days. On the first day of training, I’ll put my expected end date into a countdown app so I know the number of days left. You might be thinking that is crazy, but we all have our methods. I commit to service - they have to evacuate me to get me out early. 

Rather than seeing 800,799,798 long horrible days remaining (and I don’t look every day anyway) I see my progress toward my pledge of service. BTW, I just recently dropped under 300 days in AmeriCorps service.

On Dominica just after hurricane Maria hit the wonderful island


About halfway through service many people have a tough time continuing. Peace Corps has studied this as a "mid-service crisis".  Being away from family and with the daily frustrations of service can overwhelm the positive.  Thinking "I have another year of this" can be disheartening and prompt giving up, ET (early terminate).  Some who complete service say “I don't know if I can make it the whole year but I can do another day”. They focus on what they can do that day, each day until they complete service.

Caveat

I don't want to give the impression that I'm a super planner, highly productive, or well organized.  I'm explaining my approach on how I decide what I'm going to do and how I deal with things in the news and in my life that could be overwhelming.  I'm hoping that explaining part of how I cope will be mildly interesting and perhaps somewhat useful.

My perspective

I have long held a long-term, mid-term, and short-term view of my life. This started at a young age. When I was in grade school I knew I needed to do well to get to high school to get to college to get a job. Yes, that is what a 4th grader thought about.

However, to pass 4th, 5th, and the other years I needed to pay daily attention in class because my dyslexia made it difficult to get everything by just reading. (Back in the day we didn't have dyslexia, I was diagnosed as lazy or not living up to my potential.)

The worst thing for me was missing a day of school because I would have to catch up by reading. So going to school each day was a short-term goal.

I also had the annual cycles of the seasons with school, gardens, vacations, and the like. This helped guide my daily, weekly actions and connect to my longer-term goal.

My long-term perspective had a goal but it was too far out for specific actionable plans. The mid-term, such as completing the semester or planting a garden, had specific plans with more details. However, those plans needed to be broken into what to do in the week, day, hour.

We all do something like this.  I’m not telling you anything new.

OK, yes, I am saying I was a strange little boy, but let’s not dwell on that.

Improving things in the long-term

These short, medium, and long-term perspectives keep me sane as I keep up with the news and all the crap going on in the world. Human on human violence, floods down under, deadly storms closer to home, and on and on.

My long-term perspective is based on valuing people and the environment. I’m driven by the belief that all humans are precious and all have a right to life, liberty, and happiness. If we can give everyone good opportunities and resources to live and be happy we will all enjoy a better world. Yes, some people will be lazy and some greedy, but if we build up people and society we can make things a lot better for everyone. 

Many of us know and have experienced the spirit of the Zulu ubuntu.  This South African concept is a good summary of what I mean to say. More happiness, more innovation, more art, culture, wealth beyond money by realizing we are all connected.

Just as important is a healthy environment for us and wild things. If we don’t address the climate crisis then everything else is pointless. We need to protect the elephants, whales, eagles, beavers, wild salmon, earthworms, soil fungi, and all the rest of our ecosystems to maintain a healthy planet. Protecting their environment is protecting our environment because it’s the same one.

So those two are my current long-term priorities. Everyone has different goals and at different stages in life. Caring for and providing for my family was my highest priority 30 years ago. I’m thankful I can still help my kids and my kids can help me even though I'm off going here and there working with others. I know many my age are more settled involved with grand-kids, local community, and other things. I think that is great.

My medium goals are typically 6 to 12 months

My long-term goals break down to medium ones. These are more definite, but still too big to chew in one bite. My medium goals tend to revolve around the seasons, our annual orbit around the sun, and our cultural calendar. Will I have a garden this year? What does the next 6 months to a year look like? Peace Corps and AmeriCorps service provide some structure, but many other things do as well – school, kids, grand-kids, and on and on. You know what is important.

I really like this book and hope to put it to use in the future

As I read the news and do other research I can pick out things that fit within this medium time frame. Going to be an agriculture volunteer for Ethiopia – get the book Restoring The Soil and put a few Tigrinya language apps on my phone. Covid scuttles that plan? Find another medium-term plan that fits within my long-term objectives.

After accepting the AmeriCorps position for Iowa Welcome Corps I’m less about learning soil improvement methods (still critically important) and more about refugees and our immigration policies, our international commitments. The news I read and post, the blogs I write, all adjust to this medium-term perspective. It can still be overwhelming, but a narrowed focus helps.

Day to day

Each day I have the opportunity to do something to move towards my goals. Meet with other VISTA volunteers. Work on the Iowa Welcome Corps website and post to social media. Place a VISTA job posting on Handshake (after learning to use Handshake). Write my representative about HR6 or other matters. Research immigration issues.  Explain to others how refugees benefit our communities and country.

At the daily level, I don’t have to dwell on our screwy 2nd Amendment debate that I can’t solve. This is an important issue.  It is sensible and proven that having fewer guns will lead to fewer deaths.  However, I can let others focus on this issue.  The target rich environment means you can't put your sights on everything.  (I was on the rifle team, see what I did there? :-)

I have my medium-term focus on refugesses, but I still have time for other things. What else can I do today? US children going hungry? Work in a food back or make a donation. Climate Crisis? Support Fridays for Future, live minimally, drive less. Read a book, exercise, diet, take care of myself. We all do these sorts of things.

Our world is blessed with many spiritual beliefs.  All agree that we are connected, part of a larger whole (ubuntu again).  Adoration, prayer, meditation, yoga, breathing exercise, group singing, mindfulness, and other practices help enrich our spirits and connect with God, the universe, and our ancestors. Such practices are important to me and many others. Prayer without works is empty. Spiritual practices give strength to our practical work.

I’m able to keep working in the face of all this nonsense by having a long, medium, and short-term perspective that narrows my focus and guides my actions. Most of the time. Sometimes it is hard to get out of bed. I get overwhelmed or knocked down like many other humans. But, a lot of people have it much worse and I have the support of my family and friends.  It isn’t long before I dust myself off and find something to do to make a difference. Thanks for all you do.

We can all do something 

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