Bill McKibben: This is how the earth works now

[GliderGuider]

22. Can you lift a 10,000 lb weight with your bare arms?

That's a close analogy to the situation we're in. Just because we broke it doesn't mean we can fix it.

It's time for us to stop thinking about "fixing" things (especially when what's broken isn't just the climate, but a couple of dozen interlocking wicked problems - including tipping points we've demonstrably passed already.)

It's time to think about the best ways we can come up with to live happy, caring, cooperative, altruistic, mindful, joyous, and even sacred lives in the midst of a world we have defaced forever. Unfortunately, "fixing it" just isn't on the menu.

There is a very good reason why the concept of "Surrender" is at the core of all the world's sacred philosophies. Unlike the defeatist Western interpretation of the word, this form of surrender means accepting that there are some things that can't be done, and choosing instead to do the very best of those things that can be done. We're about to find out for ourselves that the opposite of surrender isn't victory, but final defeat. I don't like the idea of defeat, frankly, so I've chosen to surrender to What Is.

Grant me this day
The courage to change those things I can,
The serenity to accept those things I cannot change -
And above all, the wisdom to know the difference.