Find solutions in desperate times

Zachary Aldwin Milkshake in the Boardroom
STOP the world I want to get off. If you won’t let me off, then pause the world’s rotation long enough for me to have a pity party.
The world is so broken that I am amazed it does not stop turning completely. There is so much wrong. Nothing ever works perfectly all the time.
I replaced my garden tap because it dripped. The new tap started dripping within a week. My toilet is broken and despite multiple repairs it still spews its contents all over the floor when I flush.

My phone is broken, the battery life is shrinking daily. The phone network is also broken.
Do not get me started on the internet, it is off at the moment forcing me to go to a “hotspot” in order to email this article.

I can’t use my phone’s 3G because of the flat battery. My car is broken. It wouldn’t start on Sunday night due to an electric fault.
So instead of a productive Monday I spent it fixing my car. My right front wheel squeaks despite the car having gone for service less than three months ago.

It’s broken and I’m left wondering how to get rid of it before month end when I have to pay insurance premiums again.
Restaurant prices are up and meal sizes are smaller. My medical aid is broken, they just put their prices up, but don’t pay the full doctor’s fee anyway.

Values are broken. Everyone is cynical about each other’s motives. There is little trust.
We focus on how much we can get and how we can screw people over in order to get material things. We have houses that are empty of laughter and life because our hearts are broken.

The world is broken. Chemical weapons are used in Syria for the first time in the world in decades and there are people who would rather do nothing about it.

Too many countries are in debt and do not know how to fix it and instead they keep spending.
I work with broken teams, with people that I would love to smack over the head in an attempt to “fix” them.

I face broken systems where bribes are demanded in order to get a signature from people who earn a salary.
There is so much broken around that I feel I could just, well, break. There is so much broken in the world that if all we ever do is complain we will get sucked into the maelstrom of pity and end up miserable.

Don’t just complain push back. As the old saying goes, you can go through hell, just don’t stop there.
Become an agent of change. Grab the golden grains of positive out of the quagmire of negative silt and hold to them.
There are so many positives in the world, opportunities to be taken, inventions to create, amazing places to visit.

There are solutions to be found, the satisfaction of which can keep you grinning for weeks.
There are people’s lives to enrich with your service, your product, or just your general attitude. There are relationships to build.
So yes I may phone up my Internet service provider to tell them they are operating at a substandard level.

I may ask to see a supervisor when asked to pay a bribe. I may sell my car. I may push back a little. I will also focus on those things that have brought me joy.

Last week, I wrote about how my friend Richard managed to solve my interior design problem at a price that is affordable, that working together on this project will benefit both of us, not just at a transaction level but at a relational one.

I will be moving my premises at the end of the month, to a location with less traffic and vendor hassles.
The transformation of the venue has been amazing to watch, incidentally the owner of the new premises is someone I have had a relationship with over the years.

I got a lift home on Sunday night from someone who took time and effort to get me there.
My mechanic came to fix my vehicle where I had left it rather than having me incur the expense of a tow.
Despite the explosive tendencies of my toilet there is water in my cistern (it is only in Zimbabwe where this would be a cause for rejoicing).
I will enjoy and savour the cappuccino I am forced to have while I sit at a coffee shop while sending this article on their wifi.

So the world can still stop if it wants. Not to have an extended pity party, but to create, dream and inspire those around you.

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