A new survey by Forbes states that Detroit is the fourth most miserable city in the nation. Misery is present, with that I agree, but it is not the city. Individuals make up cities and what we have in the Detroit metropolitan area are miserable people. The city has nothing to do with it. People choose misery. Cities don't.
We humans do something very strange when something negative crosses our paths. We latch on and say “Oh no, I've got something worse than that!” I was absolutely amazed at the comments made in forums in response to the Miserable Cities survey. The majority of the comments were from people who were upset that their city was not number one or higher up on the list. I was dumbfounded as I read through the comments. By the way, if you EVER read comments posted after a news story…..don't do it when you are having a really good day because you are probably going to get mad.
So, here is my thing. I live about 35 minutes from Detroit and even though I grew up there, the place scares me. However, over the past few years I have taken classes at the University of Detroit Mercy,even though there are several universities in-between here and there, and I tutored students at a high school in a Detroit neighborhood that was more blight than anything else. I am no saint or angel and I flinch if I make a wrong turn in Detroitbut I know that very now and then I have to do something positive to combat the negative thoughts I have of the city. In May I am moving to Salt Lake City because I want something different. It is not lost on me that Salt Lake City is a place and once I get there happiest will not magically appear it is something that I will have to create for myself.
Earlier today I watched a film on You Tube about Detroit. A guy was going through the city showcasing the ruins and talking about how leftist governments ran the city into the ground. I completely agree that an entitlement mentality is what ran the city and the rest of southeastern Michigan into the ground, however that is not the fault of the government. That is the fault of each person living in the region.
Here is the challenge, and this is something that I struggle with everyday myself. No matter how miserable you think your town, city or state is take it upon yourself to personally make your little space in the world happier. If your city is miserable then you need to do something about it. Forget about “help” from your neighbor, your government or any agency. Sit down and think about what you can do to make things less miserable in your city. Don't worry about what the government, your family, boss or coworkers are doing. Ending misery is completely doable and absolutely up to you.
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank
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