Beyond Victimhood, part two

In last week’s blog, I was saying that The Humanity Project is basically a new social movement, an organization dedicated to the idea that the only real way to improve the world is to improve each person in it, one at a time. That’s our mission: to convince as many individuals as possible that we each must take more responsibility for leading healthy, happy, productive lives because that is our duty to the rest of humanity. Fortunately, if we fulfill that duty, then our personal daily existence also is transformed for the better. It’s a win-win.

But I think one of the troubles many of us run into as we try to take control is giving in to a feeling of victimhood. The world just won’t cooperate with us sometimes, will it? We know that we can excel in that management position at work, but can’t get our boss to consider us. Or we just know that we could be healthy if it wasn’t for all the stress caused by our lack of money. Or we’re a wonderful and kindhearted person, but can’t seem to make any real friends. Victim, victim, victim … Part of the problem here, I feel, is in defining our terms. If by “victim,” we simply mean that our problem is not of our own making, and certainly not of our intentional making, then yes, in that sense I suppose we can call ourselves victims. We must confront some big ongoing problem that is forced upon us or inadvertently caused by us. But everyone is in that same situation, one way or another. Our problems come at us and surround us at times, without our deliberately inviting them.

I believe that if we think of ourselves as “victims,” or just let ourselves somehow feel that we are victims, we abandon the undeniable human ability to take control of just about any problem that comes along. We have enormous, and I believe, largely untapped powers to improve our own lives. To me, that’s why we can’t ever let ourselves think or feel as if we are a victim of a hostile world. Because we can change things. If we try.

One of my favorite writers, Henry David Thoreau, expressed it this way: “I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor.” Of course, he was referring to both men and women, using the accepted language of the 19th Century. I know that Thoreau was right, from personal experience and learning from the experiences of others, both famous people and anonymous people. Conscious effort can change our lives. But it can’t be blind effort, applied without discipline and insight. We must learn something about who we are as individuals, and what we really want out of life, then find realistic strategies for making changes, either outside us or within us.

By doing that, we really are building a better world. One human being at a time. And by doing that, we are each getting a great deal more fulfillment and joy out of our life. The Humanity Project is trying to give individuals encouragement and inspiration, concrete information and vicarious experience (see the first two chapters of “A Human Drama” on this website) that can help them get a handle on their daily lives and be more responsible human beings. I hope you’ll want to come along and join us in this effort – we do need your help. Your enthusiasm, your time, your money to support our work. Tell your friends about us, please. Our mission can only succeed if enough people begin to make those key improvements in their own lives. A saner world starts with you, it starts with me. Right now. – RSK