Think Beautifully: Choose Compassion Over Fear

War bells are ringing. Maybe these are alarmist messages meant to make us afraid and unable to enjoy life; maybe they are a warranted warning.

It seems we learn nothing from history. I have long believed that the quality of our thoughts determines the quality of our lives. This is not about being clever; it is about thinking well — or, as I prefer to call it, thinking beautifully. To think beautifully is to think with compassion.

Compassion goes beyond empathy. Empathy allows us to identify with and feel what another person feels; compassion moves us to reflect and to act. It springs from our innate motivation to belong. That drive is written into our genes because cooperation has been the best tool for survival and species evolution. Alone, whether in prehistory, the Middle Ages or today, our chances of surviving would be slim. We are born vulnerable; without the care and affiliation of others we would not survive infancy.

Everything we have exists because people cooperate. We are built to cooperate with anyone, yet we quickly learn to avoid those we think threaten our health or lives. But are all the things we are taught to fear really dangerous? Welcome to one of the oldest and still-effective mass-control techniques: fear. Fear prevents beautiful thinking, it freezes us and creates insecurity — an insecurity people try to compensate for in different ways.

Fear often targets the unknown, but it is also shaped by admired or powerful figures who tell us what to fear. Naturally, and often by design, groups form that accept insiders and reject outsiders. But you cannot both reject and cooperate: if I identify with a football club, I will cooperate with fellow supporters and reject those who are not like me, regardless of their name, family or work. That is not thinking beautifully.

Combine fear, rejection, desensitization and the interests of influential people, and you have the ingredients for conflict — conflict that can grow to enormous proportions. Nobody should wage war on a name or a surname, on a parent, on a nurse who saves lives, or on a child who should spend childhood playing and learning. No one should promote, tolerate, justify or encourage war, or use influence to inflict pain and suffering.

We should think beautifully and cooperate to build a better world. We should put our talents at the service of the community to improve living conditions for everyone. We should cultivate a kind, compassionate gaze and be able to look those closest to us in the eye. Remember that humanity is the quality that distinguishes us from monsters.

I choose to think beautifully and try to make the world better. Will you join me?