Our country has morphed into a mass of ugly, mired with hatred, intolerance, and indifference. The politics of the country has driven this. The anonymous use of technology has driven this. Suddenly, we're all enemies. I'm tired, and I'm fed up. I'm a caregiver and have been for 15 years. During this time, I've watched as my elderly parents have been nearly knocked off their feet by children whose parents are disengaged by being too engaged with their phones. Restaurants train their employees to take customers to the booths/tables at the back. It's so ingrained in them that when an elderly woman using a walker or a younger person on crutches is forced into a long walk that is unnecessary.
My mom has nearly gone down from a woman wielding a grocery cart as if she were in a Star Wars film. I've listened as young people speak about the elderly as if this is a life stage they'll never see. (AND I'm well aware some people speak of the young as if they are incapable of thought - that's not right, either!) We will all be gray and frail some day. The only way to avoid it is to die young. The next time your [tardiness, appointment, job interview, etc.] feels more important, hesitate long enough to picture yourself in someone else's shoes. Picture your children in my shoes. Whatever you have going on, is NOT more important than the life and well-being of another. We don't stop having value at a certain age. We are always valuable to someone. Don't be one of these people.
Be one of THESE people instead.
We are all in this together. Repeat it every day as a reminder.
Don't leave your house, your office, the parking lot without reminding yourself that we are all living to die and on that spectrum is OLD. Only the young escape it.
Compassion is like DNA. We can swap it with others and pay it forward. First, you help another and then they help another and so on.
Practice compassion!
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