A lot of bad things happen in this world, there is no doubting that. Are there a lot of good things? Yes, but the media doesn’t think it’s worthy of airing. Who wants to watch a segment on feeding the homeless when we can watch a story about murder. I guess it’s us the people who chooses it in the end. Ratings don’t lie.
Wanna know what would be nice? For one bad thing someone does, I wish 5 more people did something kind. You see, we cannot control the actions of others, but we can control our own actions.
By now everyone has heard about the Newtown, CT shooting. There hasn’t been anything in my time alive that has been so horrific for me. The question on everyone’s mind, why? The answer is, a disturbed person had access to guns. SMH
I take a deep breath before I continue my writing. I didn’t know anyone from that town. I’ve never even heard of Newtown before Friday 12/13. But my heart is heavy. I see pictures of the lost lives and my heart skips a beat. I find it hard to breath. I’m sure there are so many people who are experiencing the emotions I’m feeling. Days later, I’m still stuck in a sad and angry state. I talked about it all the time. I was constantly posting things on Facebook and my other social media sites about what happened and how I felt. I stayed stuck to the news. Found myself on Yahoo every morning hoping to find answers to all my questions. Eventually I realized what I was doing wasn’t good for me. I needed to find peace again.
I did a lot of talking, asked a lot of questions as to why people are so hurtful. I know now that there’s no point to it. Instead of sitting around wallowing in sadness, I decided I needed to do more. I needed to start taking action.
I’m a very introverted person…I normally go to events with others. But this time, I was brave. Well, I found “some” courage because I involved my son. But I’d do it anyway :O) I’m a true believer in teaching our children the value of our lives and the lives of others.
Christmas was coming up and I knew a lot of places would have needed volunteers. I donate monthly to different causes, but there is nothing like giving your time. Seeing the smiles and the sparks in people’s eyes, these nothing like it!
My son and I went to a food bank. It was a little odd at first. Everyone seemed to come in groups, a part of some organization. The coordinator didn’t add my name to the list -_- so we didn’t know what we were doing. We stood around for a while outside. It was like 40 degrees. You could see air coming out of our mouths when we’d speak. Had my beanie on, even though it was itching the crap out of me. My scruff, gloves, jacket and doubled socks were keeping things bearable. My son on the other hand, wore 2 sweaters, thank goodness. But no doubled socks, beanie, or gloves. I warned him, but kids think they know everything lol.
Finally we were sent to do some bagging. And man there were tons of potatoes!!! It was like an assembly line. Started with potatoes, filled it up with onions, salads, fruit, a bunch of stuff. Got really heavy. About an hour into it my son says his fingers are turning purple. He declined to take my gloves. I had him stop so he could put his hands in his pockets to warm up. We were outside for a couple of hours freezing. Then finally we were moved inside. Same process…pack and go. Of course now I start sweating. I had to stop a couple of times to take one garment off then another lol. A woman next to me kept laughing and noticed my struggles.
My son was on a different bucket than me. I couldn’t help it and took some pictures of him. I see a couple of older men conversating with him. Basketball and football of course. I hear my son say, “here let me help.” Then man looked at him with admiration. So did I. I’m a pretty proud mom :O) That was a great moment.
Tons of people were in line. It became hard to keep up. But eventually we ran out of food. Just potatoes left. It was time to close shop. But at least the line was dying down.
At the end of it all, I felt good. My son felt good. In doing that I found peace again. I was able to stop asking why. I found something that works. Something that I had control over, myself. I can put all my energy into something that means everything to me. Something positive that makes a difference. Like I said, I wish for one bad thing someone does, I wish 5 more people did something kind.
Here are a couple of pictures from our day….join me on Instagram if you’d like to see more photos.
The Freedom of Choices 