What a humbling week we have had here in Hawaii and the world over. While many of us are still trying to comprehend the magnitude of the events from March 11, 2011, we must all remain calm and vigilant. We were not left unscathed by the power of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan and the tsunami it generated; it affected us all global and locally. For us here at the Hospital, we are saddened by the reality that is now Japan's. We are concerned for our co-workers, friends and family who are living and grieving through these events and we are struggling to find words for those people who have lost so much. We look around at our coastline and are thankful that no lives were lost here in Hawaii and that the damage we sustained was not worse. We wonder how we can help each other rebuild our downtown, preserve our bays and keep a stablizing force in our fragile, local economy. We know we should be grateful and hopefully we are awakened with a renewed sense of just how much we could have lost. We know that, while we are searching for answers to these questions and never knowing what our future holds, we all have the opportunity to look towards that future. We need to learn to put aside the differences that make us unique and remember the thing that makes a collective, that we are all human. We all cry and grieve for loss, we all work daily to preserve ourselves and our legacy for tomorrow.
We are seeing the power of our planet's destructive forces first hand. I know we sat up late into the night wondering what can we do, how can we help. Where do you even start? We watched with admiration how the businesses downtown rallied together to get the doors open for dinner after the tsunami and we were proud of their fortitude. Collectively, we have stood as one. Yet even by Monday, as I write this column, I am reminded how quickly we forget these lessons. The kindness people showed on Friday was replaced by indignation. While we all realize there is only so much we can do to help, we could spare the change under the floor mats- a collective would make more cents. While we all want to see changes, we have no real suggestions. We have an opportunity to emerge from this a better town, city, state, country, nation and global community. Technology grants us instant access to world events as they happen. Though the world has not diminished in size, these events, as with many others in recent years, make the world feel smaller everyday.
I was very moved as I watched the news and even more impressed by the fact there was no looting. People waited patiently in-line to use the pay phone, finding their lost family members and to let others know they were safe. They stopped to help each other and remained dignified, all in the midst of chaos all around. We can learn a lot from the Japanese. There is a tolerance there that we could all apply to our daily lives. I recently read a Japanese proverb on a glass of tea I was drinking. I asked if I could purchase the cup and I have to say, it may be the best $6.00 I have ever spent. I plan on buying them for everyone in my family and my immediate circle of friends as a gentle reminder.
Less meat - More vegetables
Less salt - More vinegar
Less sugar - More fruit
Less eating - More chewing
Less clothing - More bathing
Less talk - More deeds
Less greed - More giving
Less worry - More sleep
Less riding - More walking
Less anger - More smiles
Photo credit: mckennaoriginals.webs.com
We have learned a lot from our island neighbors. While they, like us, don't always get it right, I have found great relief in knowing, that although their country lay in ruins, their spirit lives on in the people and in the heart of their children and in the world that will stand ready to help them. It will take years to rebuild their nation and it will be years more to mourn their loss, but they will persevere. I mourn for our country, for a dignity we have yet to find, for a collective voice we have forgotten how to use, and for a morality I can only hope will come. We have experienced tragedy in our country at the hands of others and we have witness Mother Nature during Katrina. Mother Nature is warning us. It is up to us to stop all the noise and listen- to listen with the ears of future generations, to see with the eyes of our children's children and to speak with words that encourage understanding and not condemnation. We have an opportunity to rise as a global conscience. We have a chance to rebuild from these events, the right way. We need to take pro-active approach, using what is already available and improving on it. We have a choice to make and while I can not control the world, Lord knows I have tried, I can control myself. I can empower my staff, I can teach my children, I can love whole-heartedly and I can hope that others will do the same.
We can not change the events of the last few days, weeks, months, years, decades and centuries. We can change the next week, the next month, the next year, the next decade and hope that, at the end of this century, we can look back and see how far we have come. ~The reputation of a thousand years can be determined by the conduct of one hour.~ Let make this our finest.
