Right action?

If yesterday's post was about thinking before you post, today is about thinking before you act.

It is not what I initially planned on posting, but there was a brief discussion this morning about the proposed buying blackout on Friday. Julie had read a post about it potentially hurting small businesses and questioning whether it really makes a difference.

For me personally, I am sure I will not be buying anything Friday; that's usually a pretty safe bet. 

A lot of the information I have seen about the proposed blackout is focusing on large companies that have supported Trump or rolled back their DEI efforts. I have seen Amazon, Target, and Wal-Mart mentioned, as well as Best Buy and a more general prohibition against fast food and using credit cards.

The post Julie read pointed out that if you do your normal shopping on Thursday or Saturday, not doing it on Friday won't be effective.

If everyone in the United States truly did not shop on Friday, I do believe companies would notice that. I am also sure that's not going to happen.

Some people will intend to, but forget about it or realize they need something or get hungry and only have time for a drive-through. 

There will be people who haven't heard about it, or who did hear but didn't think it would be effective.

Also, there are lots of Trump supporters and DEI haters. Some of them are passionate enough that they might drop extra bucks at the Target just to show whose side they are on.

This is not me encouraging you to buy anything or discouraging you from participating in activism, 

It is a reminder that change isn't particularly easy. 

This current situation was years in the making. 

Increasing concentration of wealth has made it harder to effectively exert economic pressure and white fragility has been weaponized. The roots of that have been in our country for a long time, but if we look at Lee Atwater's Southern strategy and Reagan's tax cuts and firing of air traffic controllers, we have been heading this way for over forty years.

If there is something easy you can do, that's great, but expect more hard things.

Wonderfully, many of these changes may include things that are ultimately better, more rewarding, less expensive, and healthier.

You should still expect a few hiccups along the way.

Personally, part of my ability to maintain a positive attitude has been accepting the inevitability of failure. Not always, but inevitably sometimes. 

Then I keep trying and sometimes succeeding. 

Being realistic and still caring is a key combination... something about serenity, courage, and wisdom.

Potential action item: Think about a time when you failed but could live with it.