Photo by Matt Collamer on Unsplash
What Happens to Us When We Allow Others to Suffer?
Have you ever walked past a homeless person downtown and wondered what their life was like? Or what to do? I have given my left-overs or even a $20.00 bill when I had the food or the money. I even bought some peanut butter bars for homeless man because I thought the food would help.
I have lived many, many, many years barely scraping by from paycheck to paycheck. Single parent incomes don't go very far, and my highest value was to spend as much time with my kids as I could. When I saw someone on the street, I knew that I wasn't that far from being homeless, as well. I was working hard to raise my children but this society that we live in seems to have mixed up values. Big bank accounts at any cost while many suffer along the way.
I didn't have all the answers back then and still don't today. What I can do is try to see what the problem is and find a solution in my neck of the woods. By ignoring the person or the problem, it or they won't go away and something is truly lost if we turn our backs to our fellow man.
Photo by Fancycrave on Unsplash
Do We Have Enough Already?
I think in this time of fast and loose credit cards, we forget how hard it is to pay for things. Impulse buys become forgotten until we see the accumulated credit card debt. Debt becomes something synonymous with being an adult. Car debt, college debt, house payments, etc. are part and parcel of life in these modern times, or are they? Is there another way? Not too long ago, after the depression no farmer would borrow from a bank. Farmers and probably most that lost their homes and businesses learned a valuable lesson. Pay with cash only. When you borrow from the banks, the banks can take away what you don't own outright.
What if we paid for cash? Would we really spend as much as we do as often as we do?
And then the bigger question really.....do we NEED what we are buying?
When We Take Too Much, We Hurt Ourselves and Others
Recycling is more than just putting things into a bin to be used again after incineration. When I have something I no longer think I need or will use, I will give it to someone who I think will benefit from the item. If anything else I will donate to local shelters or thrift stores.
When I buy something other than food, I say to myself, "Do I really need this?" I think it is a valuable question. Even if you have the money, is it something that is really needed or are you trying to fill a void that won't ever be filled with more clothes, shoes, etc.? What are you trying to avoid by shopping? What hurts so much that you cannot spend a little time in reflection? What could you be doing for others that gives back to the community and will fill your heart and soul with joy?
Taking and giving feel differently, don't they? Why not start giving more? Your time, your money (if you wish), your unused belongings that still have some use? We all could give more and in the end.....isn't that what life is all about? Giving our time for something bigger than ourselves.