Enlarging our Worlds

As we grow older, our world sometimes becomes smaller. We don't interact with people as much, we don't stay abreast of current issues, we might be fighting sickness and pain. Our outside contacts tend to be doctors, grocery stores, friends, and maybe libraries.

Our energy and alertness diminishes, but we need to make an effort to stay involved. A big challenge is to keep informed about the environment crisis and do what we can to preserve our planet for future generations. It is important to search out the truth about issues and candidates running for public office so that we can vote intelligently. We  need to support issues we believe in by writing or calling our congresspersons and urging them to promote the common good rather than special interests. We  also ought to reach out to persons in need such as the homeless, the immigrants, the marginalized, and the imprisoned.

One of my heroes is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg who continues to serve on the Supreme Court with integrity, steadfastness, and grit at 85. She does her homework and fights for impartiality in a setting that is challenging and sometimes biased. Her strength and courage are an inspiration to me.

Another woman I admire is Oprah Winfrey who at 65 uses her wealth in constructive ways to educate girls in Africa and promote causes she believes in. She tries to unify people instead of divide them with her positive, compassion-ate approach.

A man who just died last week at age 99, Justice John Paul Stevens, is another beacon of hope in these troubled times. After retiring at age 90 from the Supreme Court, he wrote a book about his life in which he stressed the importance of "fighting for the rule of law every day of your life."

There are many people who work hard to make the world a better place. We think that one person cannot make a difference, but consider Nelson Mandela who ended apartheid in South Africa, Bill Gates who uses his billions to end polio and other death-causing illnesses in impoverished countries, Rosa Parks who refused to move to the back of the bus. We don't have to be rich or brilliant -- each one of us can do something to improve our world no matter how old we are.