Leading the Way to a New Civilization
By Brett A. Fernau

Part 1 – Take a Look

If you get your news from television, newspapers and radio, I would not be surprised if you believe that the current situation in the world and in the United States of America is terminal and unfixable. Nor would I be surprised if you fear for the health and safety of yourself, your family and your friends. You very likely feel quite helpless, convinced that you, alone, can do nothing to restore hope, virtue, civility, productivity and happiness to your world. Your feelings and fears are valid and real, but the idea that there is nothing that you can do about it is wrong. There are many things you can do, and the best and first thing you should do is look.

Go for a walk. Notice that most of the people you see are working hard at living and that they are generally succeeding at doing that. Look around you and you will see that there is laughter, productive activity, polite conversation, courtesy, and pride all around you. Your neighbor is working in the garden. Two friends are meeting for coffee at a shop on the corner. A couple is taking their child out for a walk to the park. A truck is delivering a package to someone down the street from you. People are driving, biking and walking to work. There is, yet, life in the world and it is going on in spite of whatever obstacles might appear to stop it or slow it down.

Obstacles are there to be overcome. They are what make life challenging and interesting. Without them, there would be no reason to live. Think about that for a moment. Without obstacles, barriers, there could be no goals, because what is a goal if not a desire to conquer barriers and obstacles to achieve what one desires? Have you ever known someone who seems to have no goal? Even in their aimlessness, they are seeking to go somewhere, achieve something, even if it is only oblivion. Death is a goal. Life is a better goal. Look and see where you are going. What is your goal? Did you agree to that? Or was it handed to you by someone else?

There is something you can do about it. If you are fearful, look at that which you fear. That is a barrier. The first thing you do with a barrier is recognize if for what it is. From there, you can go forward and decide how to go over, under, around or through it, or you can decide that it is too much for you and give up. I recommend the first choice. Deciding to go forward and conquer a barrier is a goal. The most fun you can have in life is the journey you will take between setting that goal and achieving it. There is something you can do about your situation is life, but only if you decide that there is. One of the “somethings” that you can about do it, whatever “it” might be, is to decide that there is something you can do. Look – Decide – Act.

Looking is an acquired skill. You have to learn it and then you have to practice it. Once you have mastered it, you need to share it with others; teach them to look. Take them for a walk. Have them notice things in the environment. Observe the things that are good as well as those that are bad. Enjoy the good things. Decide to do something about the bad things. This is your world, your nation, your state, your city, your neighborhood, your block. Have a look at it and see what you can do make it better. Get some help with that project from your family, neighbors, and friends. This is their world, too. Let them help you fix it up, one barrier at a time.