27. WHAT KILLS ME, MAKES OTHERS STRONGER
The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others.
- Mahatma Gandhi
Here’s what I know. It is small and it is simple, but here it is.
The threats to society – climate change and its interrelated political, economic and social factors – are too big for any one person to tackle. What’s more, stakeholders with the power to make meaningful change can often not be counted upon, such as many politicians and corporations. The best answer, then, for our communities and society to become resilient in the face of climate change is for people to work collectively to solve problems.
If that’s true, and I believe it is, then the single most important thing anyone can do to improve the world is to live a life of service to others. We master our natural instincts for selfishness, aggression and self-destruction, both individually and as part of a group, and work to make life better for those around us.
It’s okay to feel overwhelmed by this knowledge. In fact, faced with scope of the climate crisis, it’d be strange not to be a little overwhelmed. It’s like being asked to eat an elephant – where do you even begin? Consider that when Greta Thunberg was 11, she developed an eating disorder1. She lost almost 10kg, was nearly hospitalized and only found the energy to eat and become more active when she started her school strike for climate2. In what many people feel can often be a shallow and meaningless world, a world with overwhelming problems, Ms. Thunberg’s lifeline began with one, simple, action: to sit on the steps of the Swedish Parliament.
The insight in that simple action is that the accomplishment of any big task is helped by breaking things into steps. And while it might seem like there are a thousand different ways to tackle the problems facing our society, the reality is they all begin with a similar first step, which involves deciding who we live for: ourselves, or others. If we choose to live for others – for the group – then we can help the world face the challenges we face, and, in the process, find positive meaning in our lives.
So, how do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time, and our first bite involves changing ourselves to be people who put the need of others ahead of our own. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “If you want to change the world, start with yourself.”
Ernman, Malena, Beata Ernman, Svante Thunberg and Greta Thunberg, Our House is on Fire, translated by Paul Norlen and Saskia Vogel, (UK: Penguin Random House, 2020), 15.
Thunberg, Greta. [@GretaThunberg] (2019, August 31). Before I started school striking I had no energy, no friends and I didn’t speak to anyone. I just sat alone at home, with an eating disorder. All of that is gone now, since I have found a meaning, in a world that sometimes seems shallow and meaningless to so many people [Tweet]. Twitter.
https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1167916944520908800