Making Things Better: A Journey from Chaos to the Heart

The world feels heavy right now. It’s easy to look at the news and feel like we are witnessing a wave of chaos that has no end. Lately, I’ve been sitting with the weight of human suffering, especially in the wake of the massacres, deaths, politics and evolving wars. It’s painful to see how events can ripple out, leaving so many people across the globe feeling numb, defensive, or heartbroken.

In times like these, I’ve noticed a common human reaction: we all want to be heard, and even more, we want to be right. We get caught in a loop of news and social media that pulls us deeper into the trauma, often leading to hate speech and finger-pointing. It’s a strange thing to witness—this need to claim a "piece of the pie" or find someone to blame, even in the midst of a tragedy.

The Mirror of Our Opinions

I haven't always stood back from this. I used to have very strong, solid opinions. I felt that same need to be heard and to convince others of my "truth." But through mindfulness, I began to notice something: my opinions were often like arrows. I saw how they affected the people around me, and I felt how the clashing opinions of others created a physical tightness in my own body.

We’ve all lived through different lives and different social conditioning. When I realised that, I had to ask myself:

Who am I to press my point into someone else’s projection of the world? Does it really make anything better?

I realised, we are all suffering to some extent because we are holding on so tight. We cling to our views, we fear the unknown, and we feel that tension penetratively in our bodies as we try to make sense of our existence.

Starting Where We Are

Gandhi captured a way out of this cycle in 1913. He said:

"We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change."

This is a profound shift in perspective. It suggests that if I want the world to be less chaotic, I have to start with the chaos inside myself.

Instead of getting caught in the "tangled web" of reactivity, I am choosing to step back. I am learning to move into a more open, spacious way of being. In meditation, we call this finding the "Space" or "Emptiness"—a place where we strip away our labels and our history and just exist. It sounds abstract, but in daily life, it simply means leading with an open heart.

The Practice of "Better"

So, what does "making things better" actually look like? For me, it has become a daily check-in with three simple ideas:

• Right Speech: Remembering that words are like arrows. Once they leave, I can’t take them back. I ask myself if I’m speaking to build myself up, or to genuinely connect.

  
  

• Right Action: Checking if my choices are driven by division or by a genuine desire to help.

  
  

• Right Thought: Noticing if my thoughts are heavy and negative. I can feel that weight in my body as stress. When I choose a lighter, more accepting thought, the physical relief is immediate.

  
  

We don’t have to stay caught in the spin-cycle of hate and blame. We can become friends with the "Space" between the thoughts again. In that space, we can evaluate with total honesty how we are contributing to this beautiful, connected world.

Choosing to lead with an open heart in every moment? It’s a big goal, but it feels worth a shot. That is what I am doing to make things better.

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