“The Sky Is Falling! The Sky Is Falling!” Is Chicken Little Finally Right?
The world is up in arms about the ways in which it’s coming to an end.
Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones. — Thich Nhat Hanh
Undeniably, there have been a lot of disturbing events in the world in the past couple of years, most notably anything to do with the increasing conversation about a possible third world war.
Throw in all the conspiracy talk around Covid, the issues with Trump, the overturning of Roe vs. Wade and what that has meant for women in America — and indeed, the ripple effect for other human rights in that country, and the world at large.
And of course, for years there’s been talk about the environmental crisis and how we’re destroying the planet and it can’t sustain us much longer.
I’m not going to add to the list; you can fill it in for yourself, as there is truly no end to the miseries that exist around the world, and that give us cause for concern.
But…
(You knew there’d be one, didn’t you?)
This is not the first time since World War II that there’s been a global concern — in fact, belief — that we are on the verge of a third. In the ’50s and early ’60s, Cold War tensions mounted, with US government officials urging citizens to have bomb shelters.
In the ’70s, everyone was sure we’d all need gas masks by 1980.
Around the time Reagan became president, winter of 1980–81, there was something bordering on a global certainty that someone was about to push that Big Red Button.
January 16, 1991, the Gulf War broke out and again, we were freaking out about the possibility of nuclear war and what this might do to the world.
And 10 years later after the World Trade Center attack…and the ensuing “War On Terror”.
And we are still standing. Sadly, however, there is still a lot of fighting in the world. It has always been this way. It will always be this way. It is part of the human condition. The idea of world peace is lovely but the notion of achieving it is completely ridiculous.
Why? Because people are people. We are all capable of good and we are all capable of causing harm. We can be nice to each other; we can be total nasty pinheads, too.
This is the truth of who we are.
Whenever you get a group of people together, you’ll see both sides and everything in between. Think about your family — including your extended family. No doubt there’s a mix of the ones you love to see and the ones you wish like hell would call in sick to all your family events. There are the peace-makers, the fixers, the neutral ones. There are the ones who can’t wait to start a battle over their own jealousy, insecurity, what chips on their shoulders they’ve been carrying around since they were the pesky youngest siblings of the older ones who got all the privileges.
The jealous older siblings who believe the youngest ones were spoiled rotten.
You will see this same theme play out in any group, organisation, or business. You’ll see it in every board meeting, any PTA function, or mum-and-tot group. You’ll see it amongst church members, in community centres, in classrooms — whether adults or children.
There are always the bullies, the meek ones, the peacekeepers, the rebellious ones, the jealous ones, the ambitious ones, the “yes” ones, the “no” ones.
Whether in your home, in your religious organisation, your workplace, your city, your country, or the world, there will always be people being people. They have emotional wounds. And they act — and react — from those wounds, often causing damage to themselves and others around them.
You will never get every single person in the world to go for therapy and come out the other side being like Howard or Marion Cunningham from Happy Days.
People are people. Everywhere. With all their greatness and all their flaws and all their wounds. Full stop.
Fear is a powerful emotion. It’s also a great one to use if you want to control someone, or a group of someones. Or even a large group of someones — like the global population.
World Wars I and II were terrible enough but our current potentially volatile global leaders know that if anyone is stupid enough to go for World War III, they will be destroying themselves and their own countries as well as whomever their intended targets are. It’s great to throw around a lot of fear-inducing words, bullying words and make people think you’re really gonna do it! See? I’m standing here with my finger hovering over The Big Red Button! Just like the earlier war images of some crazed soldier, eyes bulging, holding a grenade and threatening to pull the pin.
But to actually do it is another thing altogether.
We may be bullies and pinheads and throwing our weight around on occasion because we want to get our way, and a lot of people can get hurt or killed in the process. But bullies are usually cowards and they have a strong sense of self-preservation.
After all, we are human. We are hard-wired to keep ourselves alive at all costs. Our default setting is survival. When it comes to the potential for an all-out nuclear war, we’ve proven over and over again that we’ll threaten and it’ll get scary and everyone’s hiding in their closets biting their nails and waiting for The End — but we are ultimately too chicken to do ourselves in. It’s no longer a question of having a couple of secret nuclear bombs that you launch into a country when they weren’t expecting it — which promptly ended WW II. No one was prepared to fight back after that.
But now lots of countries have those bombs. It’s a whole new ball game. And it’s one that I don’t really think anyone is actually prepared to play.
Nor do I believe that we’re going to kill ourselves by destroying the planet. Have we been treating Mother Nature with a whole lot of disrespect for a long period of time? Yep. No doubt about it. But does that mean we’re doomed? Absolutely not.
This, of course, is only my opinion. I’ve been wrong a time or two (or a lot) in my life, and I could be wrong here, too. My opinions are not actually the point of this writing.
The point is that it’s precisely because we are capable of both light and dark that I don’t believe we will ultimately wipe ourselves off the face of the earth. Whether by abusing this beautiful planet or by annihilation with nuclear bombs or in any other fashion, I believe that just as we’re seeing the Darkness in humanity, we’re also seeing the Light. There are plenty of people doing harm to each other, to the planet, and to themselves. Equally, there are plenty of others who are working on solutions, on creating peace, on healing the damage to the planet. There are numerous people, environmentalists, scientists, researchers, Mr. and Ms. Joe Average and their children, trying to fix or undo whatever other issues have everyone up in arms, screaming that the sky is falling just like Chicken Little believed.
Check out this brilliant short clip (about 3 mins). It’s the Disney film intro to that old classic story and it demonstrates quite clearly what happens when we let our fears get the better of us (understated):
Am I sticking my head in the sand and saying there aren’t any problems in the world? Am I saying there isn’t a real threat of various dangers?
Not at all. I’m aware that there are problems that need addressing.
I’m simply saying that we must temper those situations — and the resulting fear — with the fact that there is another side. That these potential horrors might not ever happen. That there are people working toward resolution and peace and a healthier planet. That living in fear makes things worse.
We need to remember that there is more than just the fear. There is hope. There is an ever-growing spiritual movement and positive healing energy all over the globe. Countless individuals and groups are doing their best to bring Light and raise consciousness where there is currently Darkness.
Throughout history, there has been a great seesaw between Light and Dark. The pendulum swings back and forth, back and forth, and ultimately, we come back to the Light.
There will always be tragedies and global horrors and the potential for evil and harm; this is part of the human condition.
Equally, there will always be good and kindness, great displays of compassion and healing. This is also part of the human condition. Look at how we come together in a tragedy, such as after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Nepal earthquake in 2015, the tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004, the World Trade Center horror. These events prove that globally, we are still connected. We still care about one another. We recognise each other as beings who are suffering and we do our best to bring relief.
We never know what will happen — not even 30 seconds from now. You could get a phone call that will bring a magical, wonderful change to your life (I hope so!)— or the worst news you’ve ever heard (I hope not!). All we know for sure is what is happening right now, in this very moment.
You can choose to focus on the fear of what could or might happen in 30 seconds or next week or in 10 years, but it doesn’t mean it will happen. It only guarantees that you will feel fearful and horrible and this will adversely affect your health and your enjoyment of your life.
It can also be paralyzing, keeping you stuck in believing the sky is falling and that you can’t do a thing about it.
Or you can choose to focus on the positives, the blessings, and maximise your ability to make a positive impact on the world and contribute to the changes you would like to see.
This is a much more productive use of your time and energy. And it’s also the only way you’ll be happy and enjoy your life.
We don’t have control over anyone else on the planet, and we can’t possibly know what the future holds. But we don’t have to contribute to pointless fear that only makes things worse.
Right now, the sky isn’t falling. It might never fall. Unless and until it does, remember how our world comes together in times of terrible tragedy. Remember how we truly love and help each other when we need it most. Remember that we are like families and businesses in which people squabble and argue and threaten and can be mean and hurtful, but they’ll have your back when the chips are down.
Remember to trust in our inherent need to survive. The one thing that citizens of all countries — our global s iblings— understand and want more than anything.