The pathway to a better tomorrow is not hidden or out of reach. It only needs to be illuminated.

Humanity is a shared experience. We are never alone or without need from others. From birth until death, no human survives this life without others. We rely on people for food production and access, public safety and well-being, life-saving healthcare, building infrastructure, and much more. There is hardly a human biological, physical, or emotional system that is not somehow supported by an external social, economic, or political system at work. For better or worse, without healthy functioning external systems, humanity faces an existential crisis in survival.

Look no further than the ongoing war and crisis in Gaza. The collapse of life-sustaining systems such as hospitals, medicine, access to food and sanitary supplies, clean water, and shelter creates a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. The pictures and stories are readily available as bombs continue to fall, perpetuating a dramatic hellscape. Humanity will rise or fall on each other. 

The pathway to a better tomorrow is not hidden or out of reach. It only needs to be illuminated.

It’s easy to despair by choosing pessimism and apathy. Believing people are more likely to act on depraved impulses, are prone to hate and violence, and seek domination over collaboration misses the broader and more factual story of human evolution and goodness. While our feeds and history books are filled with stories of war, genocide, and terror, they do not define our existence in totality. Instead, they remind us of the horrors humanity is capable of while simultaneously helping us discover the conditions that lead to widespread human suffering. We fixate, study, debate, and react to these events because deep in our souls we recognize ourselves as either the oppressor or the oppressed. We see the tragic and irreversible harm done when humanity acts in ways that fail to promote and protect its flourishing. When apathetic mindsets are broken, we are left with the empowering resolve to declare, “Never again.”

Turning our attention to the complex problems of the past and the present is the beginning of creating and committing to new solutions. Illuminating hope begins with shining light on violence and injustice against humanity, wherever it may be found. Bad news may not feel good, but factual information doesn’t harm, it only humbles. When presented with reality, we’re alerted to the growing needs of our fellow global neighbors both near and far. It shakes our emotional states by creating dissonance and invites dreams of a better tomorrow.

Illuminating hope begins with shining light on violence and injustice against humanity, wherever it may be found.

To achieve hope and change, we need to rediscover the value of holistic thinking. It begins with seeing each other and our interconnected existence, even in its most depraved forms. Empathy is vital to this process, as it opens our minds and hearts to seek understanding and imagine how others feel in their pain and moments of weakness. Through empathy comes wisdom, and with wisdom, the insights to see across horizons and imagine sustainable and equitable solutions. Vengeance and short-term fixes may appease our appetite for immediate justice, but they rarely serve us for long. Our pain is temporary, but equitable justice is forever.

Holistic thinking is the value of preserving individual parts of life within the universal whole to benefit the whole. It believes when others are at their best, we’re at our best; and when every part is healthy, the whole is healthy. Everyone has a place and desires to belong and contribute, and when given an equitable opportunity to shine, they will rise to the challenge to create a new and better world for us all.

Hope recognizes today’s painful circumstances don’t define tomorrow. There is always another solution, opportunity, or possibility for lasting change awaiting us.