How does one cope ?

Knowing that thousands of humans are going through incredibly hard times as they try to avoid starvation in the regions near Ethiopia.

I see pictures of these people who have such strong faces and body language. People that come across as having such a strong character that one is full of admiration.

They are humans on this planet who happen to have been born in Africa whilst I was born here.

Two worlds so different.

I find it so hard to imagine their situation.

The problem is so great that it makes me run away and want to ignore it.

Now thinking about it, I remember something that I have repeated to myself many times before and it casts a ray of hope.

When dealing with a very big problem: concentrate on a very small part.

When faced with shifting a lorry load of earth: don't think of the huge pile but concentrate on digging and moving the next spade full. This, one knows is managable. Then it's just a matter of repeating the operation and concentrating on one action at a time.

Gradually, very slowly, the enormous pile goes down in size and the new one increases until after maybe a few hours - yes only a short time - the enormous pile has been shifted.

One comes out of dealing with this task stronger oneself not only physically but mentally with more self assurance for dealing with any task that comes along in the future.

Yes the famine situation is not one to run away from. Many brave friends are tackling this problem and other massive problems of life and death in their own way. Chipping away with perseverance, becoming much stronger people as they do so. They are indeed a source of great encouragement to me as I witness them cope.

Concentrating on the small picture, over and over and ever again is for me an answer.

Thank you friends for having such strength of character - a great source of encouragement.

Right, let's get to sleep now and in the morning go out with that spade tomorrow to tackle the tasks I want to achieve just one at a time.

I stand to benefit a lot, so as to cope better in the future. The rewards of living alongside people who are also struggling with determination are  massive and give a great source of encouragement.

Isn't it great having these kind of people around - next time I want to cheer myself up, I'll look at these pictures of people dealing with famine and other mind blowing hardships for inspiration.

Thank you.

Further thoughts next morning.

Previously I had considered the problem so big that I was inclined to do very little.

Now I've found a different perspective:

I like the look of the people I see, they come across as strong characters.

So I can help enabling as many as I can to survive. These are the kind of people I would like to populate our planet - many will die but those who don't can be a powerful force for good even in their own communities.