Rapid City author Junek: Find joy in a turbulent world by striving to make a difference and creating a lasting impact
Many people today are filled with stress over politics, climate change, wars, and a host of social issues. Grappling with all of these problems can overwhelm anyone, especially with our 24/7 news cycle.
The angst and worry this creates does nothing to solve the problems and is bad for our mental health. Facing this reality through the Five Stages of Grief has helped give me perspective on national events, restored a sense of calmness, and allowed me to bring more joy into my day-to-day life.
But first, let me explain why I believe in the basic good nature of people.
My wife, Tass Thacker, and I have traveled and bicycled through more than 50 countries. Our first bike trip was 14,000 miles around the world in 26 months .
Returning home, we began doing slide programs in schools to teach students about geography, social studies, history, science, art, goal setting, and following their dreams. Since 1987, two million students across the US have seen our assembly programs. We have done six more bike expeditions to make new programs and over a dozen other journeys (including to Australia, where the author is seen above at Millamilla Falls - photo courtesy of Bruce Junek), ocean kayaking in Baja, travelling by river in the Amazon, and spending six weeks learning to salsa dance in Cuba. Everywhere we have traveled people have responded with kindness and friendship.
A few years after 9/11, we bicycled four months through Egypt, Jordan, Greece, and Turkey to make a program on Islamic culture and ancient civilizations. We had previously bicycled through other Muslim countries, and we wanted to see if Muslim hospitality had changed. It had not. We were constantly invited into homes and everyone treated us as welcomed guests. Our confidence in the goodwill of people has been well-proven.
Now, however, my country is becoming politically dysfunctional and facing the possibility of an even scarier future. Anger, lies, and outrage replace meaningful dialogue. Students of history know that periodically people and countries lose their bearings and moral compass, turn against themselves, and commit the most heinous crimes against others.
This grim reality evokes the first stages of Grief — Anger and Denial. How could this happen to us? Isn’t the USA supposed to be the greatest country in the world? The shining city on the hill? Some believe we are blessed by God, but sadly we have never lived up to any high religious ideals, with genocide against Native Americans, embracement of slavery, and other sins.
Another Grief stage is Bargaining, or letting go of expectations. Thirty years ago, we were filled with great optimism at the opening up of China, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the establishment of trade and diplomatic relations between formerly hostile countries around the world.
Our expectation of the future was a golden age of trust and economic prosperity throughout this century. We want that future back!
The Depression stage comes when we begin to lose hope. But let us not despair. Things could always be worse. We could be living in Ukraine, Gaza, Israel, or Sudan. When we are stressed about destroying the environment, remember there have been five mass extinctions on the Earth, and nature returned each time, after millions of years, ever more beautiful and diverse.
When we admit our natural feelings of Anger, Denial, Bargaining, and Depression, we must also acknowledge the problems are immense and out of our hands. Then we can arrive at the final stage of grief: Acceptance of the things we cannot control.
Accepting our situation does not mean giving up hope in humanity. We are simply acknowledging that nations and civilizations ebb and flow, rise and fall. We have smart phones but are not any wiser. We are still human, with all our same faults, problems, and hubris. Yet there is no other period of history where I would rather live my life. Every era has pain, tumult and sorrow, often worse than we are living through now.
When yet another headline makes my heart sink, I am able to let go more quickly the anguish it invokes and move on. I don’t read all the sad and gory details, and I seldom talk about the dysfunction in our politics. Accepting the turbulent times in which we are living helps me to turn my attention to the things I can control. I focus on my day-to-day reality and the things that bring meaning and joy into my life.
My wife Tass and I are in our 70s and still give slide programs in about 30 schools a year. Our work keeps us engaged and gives us purpose. We continue to travel and recharge ourselves with time spent outdoors in nature, camping, hiking, biking, skiing and climbing. We have changed churches, are now much more involved, and we do yoga and meditate every morning. I joined two choirs. I began seriously studying Spanish during the pandemic. I am part of two men’s groups who meet regularly and don’t talk politics or typical sports. In January, I began learning to play the guitar.
I strive to have an impact. After 20 years of writing, I published a four-book fantasy series last year that encapsulates my deepest thoughts on life. “A Bright One Chronicles” is a grand adventure and also a mystical tale that deals with all these real-life issues of pain and sorrow, a coming-of-age story about friendship, belief, sacrifice, love, life and death.
We all need to reach out and hold on to the gifts of life. To actively pursue quality time for ourselves and to be with others. Step out of our boxes. Volunteer. Aspire to find joy whenever and wherever possible.
Bruce Burgess Junek is an author, adventurer, speaker, and photographer. “A Bright One Chronicles” is a four-book, mystical fantasy adventure for adults and teens which was greatly influenced by his many odysseys around the world. Order through Amazon Books, Kindle, or your favorite bookstore. Bruce has also written “The Road of Dreams — A Two-Year Bicycling and Hiking Adventure Around the World,” and “Andes to the Amazon — Seven Journeys in Mexico, Central and South America,” available on his website, along with info on slide programs, at www.imagesoftheworld.com.
