“They’re gonna come when you’re not ready/when you’re not too well-prepared/they’re gonna prey upon your weakness/no man’s soul is ever spared/you’ve got to stand up, yeah, and fight them/show them what it’s all about/this man is not for sale/there will be no backing down./Stand up and fight and I’ll stand up with you”

The Gauntlet – Dropkick Murphys

Doesn’t it seem like there’s just always something lurking in the darkness? Something waiting behind the bushes to jump out and take everything away from you. Whether it be the tax man or big daddy government or even just the nail in the road waiting to puncture your tire, it sometimes seems the world is a dark place just waiting to sink its claws into you.

Obviously there are those boogeymen we can do little about – very few actually see the object that causes the flat tire. And then there are those we see from far, far away and know they’re coming. The ones we see, those are the ones we can do something about.

I’m not sure when it happened, but in my view, somewhere along the way just about all of us got real apathetic. If it doesn’t impact us directly, then we can’t be bothered to do anything about it. Yes of course there are those exceptions. Those people that are out there standing up for what they believe in, or going to all the PTA meetings, or serving in city government or whatever, something, they’re involved, they’re trying to make a difference.

But too many of us hole ourselves up in our homes, flop down on the couch and flip on the boob-tube. Speaking of the idiot box, sometimes there is some good that comes out of it. I remember a few years ago there was a series of commercials; the one that left an impression on me featured Whoopi Goldberg. Her point was simple – if everyone just gave five minutes a day to a cause they believed in, imagine how much could be accomplished? Its romantic and naïve to think that world hunger would end and suddenly our kids would become educated but think about that for just a minute – maybe we couldn’t solve all the worlds problems, but we sure could make a start.

And so we’re back to the things we can do something about. Look, at the end of the day, I’m a hopeless romantic. Not just about the wonder of love but about the wonder of people and the good they’re capable of accomplishing. All you cynics out there can snicker to yourselves — just put the paper down now and don’t worry about the rest of this article, it isn’t for you. Well actually it’s exactly for you but you’ll miss the message anyway.

So to my point, get involved. Do something that matters. Start something, fight something you think unjust. Against current health care legislation? Do something, write a letter, attend a town hall meeting. For universal health care? Do something, write a letter, attend a town hall meeting. Make your voice heard. Stand up and fight and you just might be surprised how many stand up with you.