Many can relate to the big struggle: Life. Born into a world that is not equipped for the innocence of children, we quickly learn what it actually means to be existing in these times. We no longer have the luxury as very young children to go outside and safely explore our world, instead needing a caregiver only steps behind our every movement. To the innocent this could be mistaken for fears of the simplicity of being ready for the all to common ‘boo boo’. A little older we learn this is much darker: the dreaded and evil stranger.
Fast forward to early thru late school age. What once was a new adventure for each child to learn about the world and make life long social connections, it’s now replaced with apprehension about the safety within the chalk boards and desks. While fire drills remain the same they are now accompanied by bomb attack drills and active shooter drills. High-school is no longer filled with college prep, rather news of friends and family who have overdosed. Bullies have always seemed to exist, encouraged or grown by horrors witnessed at home. Bullies of long ago pushed, teased, and harassed other students, while today they take to social media insisting on the recipient kill themselves while they destroy any positive reinforcement they may have had received prior.
College: once a place for learning and self-exploration is filled with Frat deaths, rapes, and murder. This is a far cry from the life we were all born for. The rage in some of society has left the rest vulnerable and frightened. Victimization has grown from few to common. If not having been a victim of some kind ourselves, we are sure to know someone who has been a victim. The kindness we were born knowing is quickly replaced with the horrors of reality. Children at young ages are suffering anxiety, fear, bullying, and in some cases suicide.
No longer individuals on a path to self-discovery but rather victims of the crime that no one can escape: Life itself. This may come off as a negative article but there IS more.
Life can be beautiful and worth every second we are graced with on this planet. In self-realization we can each chose to make a difference no matter how large or small. We can decide not to make the choices of others in our lives. The decision to grow from our experiences and allow them to be learning experiences without accepting bitterness and fear as the only acceptable and reasonable result. Keeping extra water in your car for the off chance you see a homeless person begging for food in the summer heat. Donating unused or unnecessary items you own to food banks, homeless shelters, children’s organizations, hospitals, or places like GoodWill. (this is only a very small portion of the places donations can go)
Donating time can be as rewarding to the donor as to the one who receives it. Again this can be almost any of the places mentioned before and many others as well. Many living in today’s economy may be short on cash but those blessed with a nice living can donate money to local or national organizations they believe in, the possibilities are endless. Sheltering a pet, taking in foster kids, teaching music or art classes at local schools, coaching a sports team, working at a food bank. My goodness are there so many ways that one can get back to their original place of peace by helping another.
Having been both the recipient and the provider of many of these organizations and services I can tell you from experience that all of them matter to the individual in service as well as the one receiving it. Providing any type of service to another living being whether animal or person matters and will give you the exact things we all need: Peace, Love, Joy, and Growth. If only one person benefits from your participation you have changed two lives, yours and theirs. With this, the possibility of these who appreciate the loving gift you’ve provided may touch another in the same or different situation creating a snowball effect.
I know the problems of the world are overwhelming to most of us but to walk a thousand miles you must firs take the first step. The world can become a better place if only we take the time or resources we do have and share them with another. I hope I’ve given food for thought. I know the good in mankind and would love to see it not only more active but in a growing upward motion.
Elizabeth's Writing Corner 