These were former President Obama’s words last week after students across the U.S. walked out of their classes to attend demonstrations protesting guns and violence in this country. The Parkland, Florida, high school shootings on February 14, where 17 students and teachers were killed, was the most recent of over 200 other school shootings in the last six years. It appears to be the “last straw” for young people who have watched the escalation of lethal violence directed at their classmates and teachers.

Emma Gonzalez, senior at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, spoke fiercely and articulately at a gun control rally in Ft. Lauderdale: “The people in the government who were voted into power are lying to us….Politicians who sit in their gilded House and Senate seats funded by the NRA telling us nothing could have been done to prevent this….It’s time for victims to be the change that we need to see.” She speaks for countless others across this nation, of all ages, races, nationalities, and backgrounds. And she echoes Oprah Winfrey’s words, in a different context (sexual abuse) but also about the devaluing of human lives by those in power, “Their time is up!” We are reaching critical mass on so many fronts.

I had tears in my eyes when I listened to Oprah’s speech and Emma’s speech, and when I read Obama’s heartfelt reaction to the students taking a stand against the existence of guns and violence in their lives: “We’ve been waiting for you. And we’ve got your backs.” Those of us who have actively spoken out for nonviolence, peace, and the honoring of all human lives (“Black Lives Matter!”) for years see hope for the future in these angry but determined young faces. They are in great pain, but often great change comes from such pain. Pain that cuts through all the lies and gets to the heart of the matter: How do you want to live your one precious life? At war or at peace? In fear or in love?

With the many obstacles we face on a daily basis, it is easy to fall victim to negativity and fear. The level of possible difficulty we may need to face in life knows no limit. Not assuming the worst case scenario can be difficult.

 
There are two major reasons for this. First, it is the job of the left-logic side of the brain to assess all possible outcomes in an effort to prepare us and protect us against what is to come. Secondly, it is a chance for our pain bodies to feed.

 

While watching this process in myself, I noticed that my mind brought several different negative outcomes and inspired fear and dread when I was faced with even simple changes and obstacles. I had to deliberately change the course of things if I wanted to be solution oriented.

 

As people we end up stewing over possible negative outcomes before seeing that the situation is working itself out. For the most part, things work out in the best possible way. Yet we will fall prey to this mechanism almost every time we are faced with change.