There are so many negative influences and images we see on a daily basis. Shock news and images tend to attract more views and sell more advertising. Society today is inundated with news and images of basically snuff videos of murders, killings, fighting and shootings to incite negative emotions and actions. Newspapers and networks are eager to lead with how many people died or were shot in what city or some sort of negative news headliner to gain and keep the audience attention. What was once distressing is now the new normal. It becomes depressing after awhile so to combat those harmful emotions, I try to think or remember something positive.
I like volunteering and I raised my child to volunteer with me. We used to spend Saturday mornings sorting potatoes and onions, and delivered food to seniors in our city. Those were fun but also eye-opening experiences for both of us. It was very obvious that many of those seniors were grateful and were in need of the meals we delivered to them. Volunteering made me feel good to know I was helping someone else in need. My child remembers those experiences to this day and I believe it helped make them the person they are today. My child as a pre-teen was allowed to attend summer camp for two summers in the woods away from the city because of the financial donations and volunteer work of others with kind hearts. Not too long ago, we left a restaurant and before we got to our vehicle, a woman in a wheelchair asked us if we could help her because she was hungry. It was very obvious she was disabled and in need. We gave her our leftovers and she immediately proceeded to eat that container of food.
I volunteer and try to help others because it not only makes me feel like a decent human being, but because I would want someone to help me in whatever way they can if I were in need. These are small things that I feel comfortable doing and it doesn’t cost much to make someone else feel a little better. Sometimes it’s as simple as small talk on a bench or while waiting in line, to buying someone’s coffee order in the drive-thru, or giving them the leftovers you weren’t going to eat anyway. People, black people especially, are hurt and struggling. In these times, we need to help each other more instead of just recording pain and misery. Email us and tell us how you pay it forward.