“My Friend! you and I have passed our Lives, in Serious Times. I know not whether We have ever Seen any moments more Serious than the present.”
John Adams wrote these words over 200 years ago to his once rival Thomas Jefferson, with some sad disillusionment about the increase in political polarization, the tiresome politicking that led Washington to retire, and the way that the story of the American Revolution was already being twisted and politicized by grifters.
As much as I want to echo Adams’ words when I look at the news, I’ve been trying to remind myself what truly matters. My decisions, my character, how I show up for people, how I create space for honest disagreements, how I act with integrity, how I advocate for more inclusive systems, how I choose truth over lies.
We don’t get to choose the times we live in, but we do get to choose the kind of people we are in them.