Corporal Wilson: Part of the Solution

This week Corporal Wilson gave me occasion to remember that most people are caring human beings who want to be constructive in solving problems and making things better in spite of what seems to be a growing climate of disrespect and cynicism.

I have a home study premarital course for couples in PDF format. Each time I revise it, I create mistakes. I miss punctuation, sometimes have misspelled words that the computer does not catch, or sentences where I have copied and pasted that have extra or missing words in them. While I can easily spot the writing mistakes of others, it remains a challenge for me to find my own. I skim what I read, I know what I mean, and I tend to continue missing them. So knowing there are errors after this recent revision, I put a note in the initial e-mail telling people that there were errors and to please let me know where they notice them so that I can fix the mistakes.

What do I usually get in response? I receive quite a few statements like "great course, but it has some grammatical errors." Nice, but not helpful. Others will say "you need to fix the errors - they were distracting.". Also not helpful. Last week I got one telling me how horrible it was, that I would get an F if I turned it in as a college paper and much more. (Interestingly enough, the person made blatant grammatical errors in their tirade. At least it made me chuckle!) But it was neither nice nor helpful.

Then along comes Corporal Wilson. He liked the course, noticed the errors, and was tempted to just list them in a sarcastic way, but he chose to act consciously and constructively. He took the time to list each one that he found and asked me if I would like his corrections and suggestions. I was delighted! He went above and beyond the obvious and also included a few sections that were not clear or that could be interpreted in more than one way, He gave me other thoughtful suggestions to add a few things, some of which I will incorporate. THAT is nice AND helpful! It meant the world to me that he was willing to take the time and effort to help make the course better.

The world needs a lot more people like Corporal Wilson. Anyone can criticize, vomit out sarcasm and blame, demean the efforts of others or simply complain. People do it all the time at home, at work, in public, in politics and in the world. I've done it in some situations. We humans are experts at finding the mistakes of others and some are masters at berating others. But people like Corporal Wilson think before they react and consciously choose to take responsibility to contribute to solutions rather than simply bemoan the problems. They are willing to spend energy and effort to think, to engage, to give their best ideas, to create together something better for the future. Can you imagine the potential we could bring forth if Democrats and Republicans or other polarized groups would choose the way of Corporal Wilson? Can you imagine what could happen if the media were to focus more on the constructive forces working to build bridges and promote the well-being of all of us, images that would inspire the best within us, instead of resorting to filling the airwaves with the most sensational, polarizing and hateful?

Can you think of ways in your own life that you might be able to become more conscious and act more consistently with respect, care, cooperation, vision and positive contribution instead of complaining? I can. I will continue to think of Corporal Wilson more than he will know - with deep gratitude that there are human beings like him that quietly and consistently act from the best part of who they are. People like Corporal Wilson remind me to live more fully from the best in me. Stay safe Cpl. Wilson. The world needs you more than you know.