Above and Beyond
Managing expectations in stressful times
Today is unusual for me. This is probably the first time I've started with a personal essay, which I hope will evolve into a thoughtful poem worth your time.
The musing centers around personal responsibility to make a difference in a deteriorating society that brings new stresses every day.
The recently famous clash between J. D. Vance and Pope Francis comes to mind. What is our true range of concerns and actions? How does the common, everyday person respond to today?
The very first thing that comes to mind is that each of us has capacity, but it varies between persons and is never limitless.
The second notion is that others’ expectations do not dictate one’s level of responsibility. Others’ expectations can indeed seem endless, but they may have very different levels of merit. Our capacity and response must reckon with this reality, and be appropriately metered.
As our society continues to devolve, as it has been doing for months if not years now, more and more people will have more and more expectations. At some point, all systems may fail. So the question becomes one of balance.
How do you decide who/how/what to fix or help with?
Where are the limits of your capacity?
When someone goes “off the rails”, how far do you go to save them? When does heroism just become sinking into personal recklessness?
Do the person(s) with the demands understand your situation, your needs? Have they considered them at all?
In other words, are you a person or simply a resource?
And, how far to depletion are you expected to go, before you look like the appropriately good person, Christian, faithful Hindu, whatever?
There are not two (2) sets of people, those who always receive others’ assistance, with or without appreciation, and those who are expected to give until they are used up. This, at least to my mind, is a false morality.
And there is no such thing as a self-made person who did not at some time require that most important hand-up by the system, by a concerned onlooker, by their childhood upbringing and family opportunity, etc.
So, here is an interesting dichotomy to consider:
A person related to you does not automatically own tokens that they may call due at any time to fix their poor life choices. Tokens, with understood expectations as to level and type of assistance required.
A total stranger: indigent, homeless, itinerant, faceless, nameless, is still a person with basic needs that, in a very real and moral sense, may well call for your immediate, personal response. One that must be addressed correctly.
In the end, there are only human persons, individuals whose situations are in a constant state of change and uncertainty. Compassion and empathy trump assumed obligations. And reasonableness, though not considered often enough to be a virtue, actually is. Its name is prudence.
So with that rant behind us, you now know the basic concept of this poem:
Above and Beyond
They called again today,
they say the world
is coming to an end,
at least it seems that way.They want me to know
all their money is spent,
the collectors barely held at bay;
how will I save the day?I searched at first
for my magic wand,
you know the one
that makes all things better.And soon I realized
for this moment,
I was not the one
who would sign the letter.They did not understand,
how could I refuse
to own the problem,
to run to them with a sure solution.But when I look
I cannot see
an open end,
some proper, final restitution.I do what I can,
knowing it is not enough,
falling so far short
of their expectations.But I now must rest,
knowing that in the end,
I am not Atlas shrugged:
I am merely human.
Atlas Shrugged
Why did he have to fight his battle, not against his enemies, but against those who needed him most, and his hardest…www.amazon.com
Thank you for taking the time to read! I sincerely appreciate your support.
Copyright © 2025, Robert G. Metivier. All Rights Reserved.
If you like my work, please Buy Me a Coffee
This is second awesome piece with an awesome poem at the end. Your dichotomy absolutely blows my mind. I’m gonna have to read a number of times just to unpack the highlights.