#27: All Positive

Too hesitant?
Frightened of rejections?
Worried of being called a “Phony?”
Wait a minute, am I?
If so, then perhaps better not to do anything.
Even if I don’t, I’m sure someone else will anyways.
 
If you find yourself seized by such thoughts, then perhaps you can just toss them out the window.
 
Reach out to the people in real need. Even small things are welcome. For instance, offer your seat on trains and busses to ailing kids, frail seniors, or expecting mothers.
 
How would they feel? Would they reject my offer? How would others see me? Would they think I’m just a showboat?
 
Precisely, these are the thoughts that should go straight out the window.
 
Simply stand up and offer the seat. A radiant smile and a “thank you” may ensue. Or, an awkward pause and a rejection may follow. Even if the latter happens to be the flavor of the day, no worries. Simply take a seat again. At the very least, you’ve just created an opportunity to help people in need.
 
If you didn’t do it, would someone else have done it anyways? Maybe, but maybe not. Sometimes, someone will. At other times, nobody will. On the other hand, what’s absolutely certain to happen is what you do. That’s a sure thing you can bank on.
 
So many people in the world are born to a less fortunate circumstance in an impoverished neighborhood of an unstable country. Some are born in a war zone, already fighting for survival as soon as their fresh eyes open up for the very first time. Others find themselves enduring the darkness of injustices and discrimination – holding back their tears, containing their anger as best they can. And then, there are children living in the shiny modern cities of the wealthiest nations who are hungry because their lunch dues go unpaid. Even in a nation as affluent as Japan, more than 3 million children struggle in poverty.
 
They’re just born into such hardships through no fault of their own. From the onset of their lives, they aren’t afforded a fair shot at success. Reaching out to those in real need. Wanting to do something for the people struggling to get by. Making donations, volunteering time, or advocating for the refugees into your own country. Even small things are welcome. And as long as you know that you aren’t a “Phony” yourself, let the surrounding noise pass by.
 
Because there are more precious things in life that deserve your attention than the noise.
 
For people in real need, it probably doesn’t matter whether you’re a phony or not, as long as you can reach out to them right now. If you were in their shoes, desperate for any help you can get, wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you be thankful to a “Phony” who reaches out to you than to a “Good person” who turns a blind eye to you? That is, a drowning man will clutch at a straw.
 
Quite simply, reach out to the people in real need.
 
If your helping hand is turned down, simply let gravity take your hand back down. That’s all. No drama required. It only meant that person wasn’t in much need. That makes one less person in our world in real need – a very good thing, indeed.
 
And keep on creating helping opportunities for the people in real need. It’s all positive. Not a shred of negative.
 
A certainty in all our lives is that we’ll one day face our own death. It happens as equally to everyone, anywhere. No exceptions. So then, why not make our world even modestly better – even an inch better – by our own doing? To be able to know that our lives weren’t in vain – that we mattered for our world in a positive way.
 
And in our own journey of life, if we just couldn’t do it today, then let’s give it a try tomorrow. To be able to think in such way, indeed, is all positive.

Read Theme: Perspective