Frustration mounts when progress is slow

We can find crises all around us -- from gun violence to unaccompanied minors at the border to grinding poverty and homelessness, and that's just for starters -- and advocates who possess strong feelings and positions demand action NOW.

Many people feel overwhelmed by the sheer number and intensity of all those crises, to the point where the only way to deal with the stress and guilt is to downgrade them from crises to predicaments. Predicaments can be loosely defined as challenging situations that cannot be "solved," but can only be minimized or made less serious or painful.

The ultimate predicament, I suppose, is death, which all humans must inevitably face. It's tough to define death as a problem when there is no conceivable solution (though science fiction writers often give it a shot). Death is just something we must live with, so to speak.

Weather is a predicament. We talk about it all the time but no one seriously believes that weather can be controlled. On the other hand, we can find all sorts of ways to DEAL WITH weather, from dwellings to seawalls to dams, not to mention clothing and businesses that handle weather events (it's snowing, again, today, and there are a lot of people who make some money moving snow around).

Solving a predicament is doomed if we think of solutions as completely changing some situation, making everyone happy, and endless win-win-win scenarios. 

The trick appears to be a willingness to chip away at predicaments, isolating specific problems within the larger challenge. And problems CAN be solved.

Viruses are a predicament, as far as I can tell. We may effectively eliminate one or two with extensive effort and investment, but more viruses will appear. Making an appointment for being vaccinated against COVID-19 is a problem that can be solved. Viruses are a predicament.

To be able to separate predicaments from problems is an important quality for persuasive writers who are looking for a compelling call to action. 

I guess a possible universal call to action is "please act right." In many ways, all church sermons boil down to, "Do good and avoid evil." Many people have heard that sort of call to action, but they are back the next week hearing the same message and feeling a bit guilty about their failures to do good and avoid evil between services.

It turns out that being human is a predicament. 

NOTE: This is post #50 this semester on this blog, a reminder that there are finite games and infinite games. A finite game has a final score and a clear ending. Infinite games are more like running a business or writing a blog: they are about stamina and improving and adjustments.

If you have gone along on the ride, many thanks. I hope every so often something strikes you as helpful or challenging or provocative. However you feel, I will be back on the final day of March with another post.