WWOGPD (What Would Our Grandparents Do?)

My mom with her parents, Arthur and Dorothy Marshall.

I’ve always wondered what it was like for my grandparents during the Great Depression and then World War 2. I’m sure they were stressed out, worried about world events and wondering what kind of world their kids were going to live in.  The economy probably frightened them, too. They had to be half-scared out of their minds.  And I know they were just grateful to have jobs.

I wish my grandparents were still alive.  I’d love to get their take on this crazy, messed-up world we live in today. They lived through a revolution. A complete change in the world.

Just like we are today.

The past five years have tested us. The heat of the Great Recession has turned our inner iron into steel. We’ve lost jobs and found three more to earn the same money. Our biggest asset, our homes, dropped in value. Technology blew up institutions we’ve known for our whole lives. The media, Post Office, even the way we get our movies has changed. Government’s role in our lives is changing, too.   This is all happening around us.  As Wall Street prospered, Main Street suffered. The Middle Class got battered like a ping pong ball in a tornado.

This isn’t an indictment against the rich or anyone else. It’s a wake up call for all of us. We have to stop watching Honey Boo Boo and staring at the computer screen for a few minutes and reflect where our lives are headed. What do we stand for? How can we adapt?  We are busy playing Candy Crush while our worlds are being rocked. We have to wake up from our entertainment fueled sugar-rush and change with the times. Outrage isn’t enough either. It’s easy to be mesmerized by some media personality preaching outrage.  The trick is to be outraged and DO something about it.

Start small. Begin in your own household. Clean up your world. Get your finances in order. Clean out a junk drawer.  Spend time with your kids (if you have them.)  Love your spouse (if you have one of those, too).  Help a friend. Draw circles around your house.  Reach out to your neighbors. Then your city or town. Help a struggling family. If you are a person of faith, act on it. Get busy on the local level. If we do that, the national stuff will take care of itself.

That’s what our grandparents did.  They took care of things locally during the Great Depression and then saved the world during World War 2.

We live in a time of great change. So WWOGPD (what would our grandparents do)?

Get busy and change the world.

What’s one thing you can do to make your world better?