Weekly Musings #6: To be, or not to be
To be, or not to be, that famous quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet must be one of the most well-known quotes of all time.
Hamlet, contemplating his life, asks himself if he should “be, or not be”, with the meaning of “shall I keep on and face all the hardships of life, the lies, the deceit? Or shall I just give in and give up, and choose the easy way out?” (in his case he means end his life).
In times like these, it’s easy to ask yourself the same thing — is it worth caring? But maybe more of a “To do, or not to do”. And then not with suicide as the passive option of course.
But the question remains, is it worth trying to fix things in a world that seems to be so broken, and where so many people seem to be intent on breaking what little is left untouched? Where the power hungry elite are constantly racing to win, become more powerful, at any cost, without any regards to people or planet.
I was wondering that myself the other day when I had heard the news of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, I even wrote a short contemplative verse on it:
What is it with these people that make them want to destroy and lay to ruin, hurt and damage? Yes, I know it’s a power trip and all of that, but sometimes these so called big leaders remind me of kids and teenagers who break stuff just because they can, like a way of being rebellious and cool (but really only crying for help) and like the bullies at school “If I can’t be best, I’m going to be worst! I have to be known for something, look at ME, listen to ME!”
“I don’t care if they respect me so long as they fear me.” — Caligula
It’s hard to fathom that people with such immense power feel the need for so much more, and even harder to grip that they are so small-minded about it.
So what to do? How to go about it?
Well first of all I think it’s important to see the good of humanity rising as well, there is so much positive will-power in the world and so many people that want to create a better future for all of us. And I think more so now than before, we talk a lot about the negative effects of social media and online connectivity, but we mustn’t forget that the same tools also help us inspire, spread words of encouragement and rally the forces of good.
“But it feels meaningless, I feel totally helpless” you might say.
To that I have one very clear answer. It is never meaningless. You are never helpless. In this specific matter every small action counts. Everything counts.
Like this post from Olga Kordas “Why our work matters”, where she lists the reasons for why her work matters in the world today.
Look into yourself, what can you keep doing, or start doing, that matters?
Regarding the Ukraine-crisis, you can help spread correct information that will support Ukraine in their struggle against their oppressors, see this post for a link to official information from Ukraine
And it doesn’t stop there — everything you do makes a difference. We’re talking positive butterfly effect here, every small thing you do to create a positive ripple effect makes a difference. I am convinced that a happier, healthier, more positive world will create less friction, and the less friction, the more people will feel happier and so on.
Smile at someone, show patience in a stressful situation, show decisive action and help someone. Step up to the plate.
If you are in the process of starting a company, or haven’t decided, then yes, go start a company, and make sure to pick a need or a problem worth fixing. Make those hours and all that effort you will be spending worth it.
And hey, if you are going to fail, you might as well fail trying to do something important, right?
If you have a company, take this opportunity to go through how you do business. Are you a good world citizen? We can’t do everything 100% right, but we can at least try to do everything better.
A good starting point are the UN Global Compact 10 principles of ethical business,
https://www.unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/mission/principles
For me, I am fortunate to be working in an epicenter of new ideas, I meet people every day who come to my office because they want to fix or build something, to make things better.
And I am intensifying my efforts with Entrepreneurs Without Borders, helping small SDG aligned businesses all over the world scale, grow, create jobs and prosperity. Please join the cause if you want to help!
During the pandemic I encountered such a strong sense of urgency and purpose, a collective feeling of “Let’s fix this!”, and I feel and see it again now.
Remember the words of Martin Luther King:
Darkness can not drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate can not drive out hate, only love can do that.
Spread the light, spread the love.
Like my silly Monday morning greetings, small silly things in the greater context, but if I can make just one persons day a bit better, then I will continue doing them.
I smile at people I meet at the store or in the street, I try to help people when I can,
“If I can, I do”.
So if question is to be or not to be, then the answer is easy.
Be.
