From elementary school & early childhood on, we are taught (or at least my siblings & I were) The Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have done to you...and to take it one step further. Pay it forward. Do whatever you can, if you are in the position to do so, and help others who are less fortunate and struggling. Wasn't this what we were ALL supposed to do?
Why do I see so very little of it then? What hope can I have of teaching my precious child that this is what we are meant to do when I see so very little of it from others?
Instead, I see constant evidence of snobbery.. Don't believe me? Go to Wal-Mart.. and watch. You'll see the people there who are very obviously bargain hunting and pinching pennies by buying the cheapest brands on the shelves .. clipping coupons, and comparing prices. While you will also see the people looking at them as if they are in their way..how dare them?..as they reach by the person comparing prices and labels to reach for the most expensive and "best" brand available.
You'll see people whom you work with or grew up with, who will turn their heads and refuse to acknowledge one another because of their perceived importance in the food chain. Heaven forbid you take your child(ren) to the grocery store with you as well! Don't we parents realize that children are NOT ALLOWED in stores and restaurants until they are not prone to mess making or loud outbursts?
I'm shamed by my fellow citizens. Not because they make me feel inferior, or embarassed because I buy cheap label items.. I'm shamed because OF them. What is wrong with people who consiously pass by someone who needs help or is struggling and choose to not help them? Whether it's picking up a bag of items that have fallen on the floor or busted, or helping a parent who has her hands full with a little one and is trying to reach for something that fell on the floor/ground? I'm shamed because it's so much easier to offer a smile and a friendly gesture than it is to be a cold shouldered snob.
My hair and makeup are rarely done.. I'm typically never dressed to the 9s..(what IS that?).. and I'm definitely not a snob.. but what I am is thankful. I'm thankful to be able to help someone, or offer some type of warmth to someone who may be thinking that there are no people left in this world who were taught to live by The Golden Rule.
Beauty is indeed only skin deep.. but Ugly goes clear to the bone. - One of my favorite quotes.. that only in the last 10 years have I learned the TRUE meaning behind.
In a world where there is way more sad and fearful news in the media than there are celebratory stories, I choose to follow my Parents' teachings, and the values they instilled in us. I want to be the good in someone's day. I choose to be the good I want my child to see in the world.
There's a sign I ran across on Pinterest (my guilty pleasure! :) )...
Believe
There is
Good in
The World
It only takes a moment to make someone's day better, or to make their already bad day worse. A kind word or gesture won't always make someone's day better, but it WILL make yours better!
I see people who have "everything" and are still miserable. Then I see people who have "nothing" who are happier than pigs in slop. Know why? It's because those people who have "nothing" have EVERYTHING.. those people are happy in love, their family is healthy, their babies are fed and warm.. while the people who have "everything" are too busy being miserable and looking down their noses at the ones who have "nothing"... I know what side of that deal I want to be on!
There's no need to be ugly.. There's no need to judge. Just BE THE GOOD we want to see in the world..that's all.
Things are never going to be rosey 24/7..but it's what you make of it.
BE THE GOOD.. Because that's what I want to teach my child :)
When I'm gone from this world, I want him to know that I left him to BE THE GOOD. :)
Somewhere in Gallipolis Ohio, there are two ladies who live by this as well, and who paid it forward on Saturday.. my brother and his family were the beneficiaries of it as they had their meal paid for.. and then, wonderful person that he is, he paid it forward again. :)
What an example to set for people! - There's always hope :)
