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8. In This Article

• Why hard times repeat through history
• How nature’s cycles mirror our personal and social challenges
• Why “winter” periods prepare us for renewal
• How compassion and engagement help guide change
• How each of us contributes to a kinder, more hopeful world
  
  

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times: Finding Renewal in a World That Feels Broken

"These are troubled times. The world is full of strife and heartache. Men and women everywhere seek peace of mind and heart, and wish desperately that they as individuals could do something toward lifting the heavy blanket of gloom and fear that oppresses mankind." - David Dunn

Those words sound as if they could have been written this year. Yet they come from the book Try Giving Yourself Away by David Dunn, first published in 1947, with a second edition in 1956, and reprinted in 1970.

Reading the quote brings to mind a French proverb coined in 1849: the more things change, the more they stay the same. We tend to believe that we are living in unique times, that nothing has ever been as extreme as it is now. And yet, both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries carried the same conviction. Each generation believed it was standing at the edge of a precipice.

This perspective, going back in time, can help us recognize something important: What we are experiencing is not new. It is part of the cyclical nature of life.

The Cycles We Live Through

Nature teaches us this lesson every year. Spring, the season of birth, brings new life, new hope, and boundless energy. Summer follows with steady growth and expansion. Autumn brings harvest and rewards. Winter arrives with decay, rest, and what appears to be death. Then, inevitably, Lady Spring returns.

Human societies follow similar cycles. If you are familiar with the concept of the Fourth Turning, it offers a helpful framework for understanding these recurring patterns. Civilizations move through periods of awakening, expansion, unraveling, and crisis. The final phase often feels chaotic, frightening, and hopeless. Yet it is also the phase that gives birth to renewal.

The same pattern shows up in human life: birth, growth, maturity, and wisdom. It also shows up in generational cycles. In the book Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2029, we discover the cycles through another perspective -- that of four discernible generation types or cycles.

These cycles of growth leading to decay, or perhaps it would be best to call it birth leading to transformation, exist in all parts of life. The compost heap might look like decay, but it is actually laying the foundation for a new life, a new experience, a new expansion and birth.

The question, then, is not simply what is happening. The deeper question is how we are going to work with what is happening, and how we are going to come out on the other side.

Learning from Winter

Winter is a useful metaphor here. Anyone who has lived in the north understands that winter requires preparation and tenacity. You cannot sit back and do nothing unless you are willing to freeze. Homes must be heated so people and water pipes survive. Daily habits must change, the focus changing from growth and expansion to survival.

Survival through winter requires effort, awareness, and participation. And underlying it all, there is a need for faith. Faith that spring will return. Faith that beneath the frozen ground, and the apparent lack of growth, life is still present.

Gardeners understand this especially well. Long before spring arrives, seeds are ordered. Some plants are started indoors, protected from the cold, so that when warmth finally comes they are ready to grow. Winter is not wasted time. It is preparation time.

Participating in Change

The same principle applies to the "winter" or period of transformation we are living through now. The current phase of history may feel desolate and bleak, yet giving in to despair weakens us rather than protects us. We must keep faith that renewal is not only possible but destined as we take the actions necessary to survive and emerge clearer and stronger.

This means connecting with others who feel the strain of these times. It means warming our hearts through shared stories of love and hope, and sharing and empowering our visions of a better future. If we allow fear, hatred, and despair to rule in our hearts and minds, we may miss the signs of spring, and the open doors, when they appear. 

The saying that "this too shall pass" is true, but it is not a passive truth. Things do not simply pass on their own. They pass because people participate in the process of change, in the process of healing, and of creating and nurturing a better attitude.

Choosing Engagement Over Neglect

Think of the pieces of wood that are part of the foundation of a house. If they begin to rot and you ignore it, the rot will continue until the structure falls. But if you notice it early, you can take action by sanding, sealing, or replacing the damaged parts. Action changes the outcome.

So it is with our world. The next step, after noticing there is an unbalance, is believing that change is possible. After a long winter, it can be challenging to trust that spring will arrive, especially when the landscape still looks lifeless. Yet we know that crocuses will push through the snow, daffodils will bloom, and buds will appear on bare branches.

Life and transformation continued even when it was hidden beneath the harshness of winter.

Hope Beneath the Surface

Yes, people around the world often seem harsh, cruel, and heartless. But beneath the noise, or perhaps next to it, still beats the heart of love, compassion, and cooperation. Just because these qualities do not dominate headlines does not mean they are absent. Just because many politicians and business moguls do not embody them does not mean they no longer exist.

Our hope, our dreams, and our vision for the future must remain alive in our hearts, our words, and our actions. Balance will be restored. Like a pendulum, history swings from one extreme to another, always passing through the center point of equilibrium, and all four stages of life.

We can help guide that return to spring, to love, by living as if the future we desire is not only possible, but already here.

Giving Ourselves Away

Perhaps the most powerful guidance comes from the title of the book that opened this reflection: Try Giving Yourself Away.

We live in an age of extreme selfishness and greed, where abundance exists but is hoarded, rather than shared. While we cannot control the choices of others, we can choose our own. Giving ourselves away does not mean self-erasure. It means offering our love, time, compassion, and presence without waiting for reward, or even waiting to be asked.

When we widen our vision beyond personal gratification and begin living for the well-being of the whole, which of course includes ourselves but not exclusively, we participate in the renewal that follows the winter. In doing so, we help transform what feels like the worst of times into the beginning or continuation of something better.

You and I Can Help

I’m going to close this article with the continuation of the quote with which I opened, from the book Try Giving Yourself Away by David Dunn.

"Perhaps you and I can help. More than anything else, the world needs the healing influence of a great surge of simple kindheartedness to rid humanity of jealousy, selfishness, and greed. Such a surge must start with us, as individuals; it is beyond the power of the world’s rulers or statesmen. In our daily living, we average citizens must establish the spirit and set the pattern of a kinder world.

"Could there be a more opportune time for all of us to try giving ourselves away? Could anything else we might do as individuals contribute so much toward the peace of the world, or earn us so much personal happiness? I doubt it.

"I invite you to join me in my hobby."  --  David Dunn, author of "Try Giving YourSelf Away"

Recommended Books:

(If the following book links do not load the correct page initially, simply refresh the page in your browser and it will load correctly. There seems to be a glitch in the Amazon system so that it doesn't always load correctly the first time.)

* Try Giving Yourself Away

by David Dunn
This timeless classic, first published in 1947, reminds us that generosity and compassion are not just noble actions but powerful remedies for fear, despair, and social fragmentation.

For more info or to order, click here.

* Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069

by William Strauss & Neil Howe. 
This is the foundational work where the authors first outlined their generational theory and introduced the early framework that later evolved into The Four Turnings. Essential reading for understanding long-term social cycles.

Click here for more info and/or to order.

* The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy -- What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America’s Next Rendezvous with Destiny

by William Strauss & Neil Howe. 
The landmark book that fully developed the concept of The Four Turnings. It explains why societies move through repeated cycles of growth, unraveling, crisis, and rebirth.

Click here for more info and/or to order.

* The Fourth Turning Is Here

by Neil Howe. 
The modern follow-up that applies Fourth Turning theory to today's world, offering insight into why current events feel turbulent and how a new cycle of renewal may emerge.

Click here for more info and/or to order.

About The Author

Marie T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from 1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal growth, and well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own inner source of joy and creativity.

Creative Commons 3.0: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License. Attribute the author: Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf.com. Link back to the article: This article originally appeared on InnerSelf.com

Article Recap

This article explores how challenging periods resemble winter: harsh, demanding, and essential for renewal. By engaging with one another, staying hopeful, and choosing compassion, we help guide the world toward balance and renewal. Change becomes possible when we participate in creating it.

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#fourthturning #compassion #healing #InnerSelfcom
#personalgrowth #collectivechange #spiritualinsight