Grateful is the path to unity
By Chief Danny Watson, City of Darlington Chief of Police
Have you ever sat down and thought to yourself why you are grateful? Most people sit down and think about why they are not grateful. “I wept because I had no shoes, until I saw the man who had no feet.” I am not really sure who came up with that particular quote, but I like it. I reflect upon my life and find that I have so many things to be grateful about. Far too many people wake up every morning thinking why their day will not fulfill their expectations.
I have seen misery, pain, despair and hopelessness far too many times. These emotions hover around a person like black clouds. All of those dark clouds can be moved away with the driving force of hope. Hope is not the cure for all that ails us, however. Hope is only the beginning. We have to use it pull ourselves out of the muck that we are mired in if we want to make things better. Hope is merely the catalyst for change. Each one of the emotions I reflected upon before are instruments of chaos. These are emotions that drive us from one another creating an environment in which chaos can flourish.
There are many who manage others by chaos. They feel that as long as there is division then they can benefit from it. This same group of people will use fear to grow that chaos tree until its branches grow far and wide. The trouble with this is that the branches and leaves of this tree block out all of the sunlight or hope. This greatly reduces the ability of those who are trying to make a meaningful difference. Those who manage by chaos are not unlike a person carrying a lantern in the darkness. The light cast from this lantern gives the people a false sense of security and hope. The person with this lantern is not going to stay there for very long, only enough time to get what they need from you. Once they are gone, then you are cast back into the darkness just like before.
When people say, “We must look out for us.” When people say, “Let me tell you who your real enemy is.” Whenever this person or persons approach you and tell you all of the good things they are going to get done listen intently. Make sure that while they are telling you this that it is not mixed in with the very common chaos practice of setting you against others. To succeed if you must do so upon the backs of others, you should question the motives of the person who is setting you upon this path.
The success of communities is intermingled with those communities’ ability to unify not by being separate. We are all different – even those of the same race. No two of us, not even twins, are exactly alike. Do I have everything that I want? No, I do not. It is a constant struggle, as my idea of what I want changes along with me. Everyone can embrace such a thing as that. I don’t concentrate on what I have not possessed yet but how grateful I am that I have what I do have.
Government agencies can only guide a community as much as the community will allow itself to be guided. The biggest part of getting this done in a meaningful way is electing people who are interested in doing the most good for the most people. Unity is the key to successful and safe communities. This cannot be accomplished by those who are only interested in concentrating on what makes us different, instead of what makes us similar. All of us working together can lead to accomplishments we all can be grateful for, but only by doing it together will it get done.
Chief Danny Watson MPA FBI NA # 228, Chief of Police for City of Darlington, has been on the Darlington Police Department since 1994 and Chief since 2011.
The News & Press will be sharing updates and opinions from Chief Watson on a regular basis; you can also keep up with the department on their Facebook page: Darlington Police Department.