There is sadness in the world.
I hate to break it to you, but there is.
Recently I started to feel guilt over how incredible my life is and how good I feel. I am a privileged, straight, white female living in a very safe place with near zero health issues to impact my way of life.
GUILT GUILT GUILT
There have been no gigantic obstacles that tell me how I can or can’t live. I’m free to do mostly what I want how I want (within the law of course) and I have boundless opportunities in this world.
GUILT GUILT GUILT
And then I started catching glimpses of the news. I haven’t watched the news in a few years because MOST of it is stuff that doesn’t effect me and is none of my business. If I need to know about what’s going on I’ll do my own research. But sometimes, Hugh has it on to keep up to date with things that are important for him to see and know.
I realised that there is so much hurt in this world. From the brief 30 minute segment that I caught parts of, I saw the hurt. Crime, murder, suffering. Then they think it’s a good idea to let you know that some baby whales were born yesterday as though our minds are completely wiped of all the pain we saw prior.
I sat on this guilt for a few days. I journaled about it. I cried for people in pain.
There are things I can do to help, there are things we can all do. And we should. But I wanted to write this so we could all start small. Because Hugh always tells me that charity starts in the home. Being a good human, a good parent, friend, lover and community member is so important to the big picture.
I was getting caught up in feeling small. I was getting caught up in what I couldn’t do for the people in pain.
So I decided to start playing full out in the things that I could.
:: I can smile at everyone I pass on my morning walk. Because I know when I’ve been feeling low, a smile from a stranger is that little reminder that happiness exists.
:: I can help people. Even in the small ways, like the cliched carrying an elderly persons groceries to their car. Or telling another mother that they’re doing an awesome job when I see their toddler on the floor in the grocery store crying. Or picking up rubbish on the street, even if it’s not mine, even if it seems gross. I can wash my hands after.
:: I can raise kind girls. This part is a little more difficult to navigate, but I’ll do my best so that more happiness spreads through the world because of them.
:: I can speak up about the things that I believe in. Like gay marriage. Like gender equality. Not in a way that makes me feel loud and important, but in a way that lets people who don’t have the opportunities that I do know that I’m there for them in love in whatever way I can be. The way that makes just one other person feel loved and cared for.
:: I can work on myself so that I can be of service to others in the best way possible.
And I know, in the grand scheme of things, these little acts don’t mean a lot. But that feeling of support that someone might feel from something you or I do could be the difference for them in that day.
Adding lots more light, more love and more happiness in the smallest of ways is going to make us better as a whole. Sending love to the guy who cut you off instead of throwing your middle finger in the air. You don’t know his situation, you don’t know if he’s hurting. The more we can treat each other like the best version of themselves, the more OUR world grows.
That gives us more energy, more power, to make difference in the world.
In what small way can you make a difference in the world?
