Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Break Free from Suffering- Give Compassionately At All Times

Little Girl Getting Kicked Out of KFC Was A Hoax

So instead of being outraged that a family hoaxed a lawsuit I see this as a statement of how decayed our society has become. Consider this- regardless of the lie a girl was still attacked by a dog and had disfiguring scars. Her family tried to care for her and asked for outside support and received very little. Desperate, they lie about a situation and suddenly doctor's are offering free plastic surgery and the money comes pouring in. What this says to me is that people need to open their eyes and give more compassionately. Why do we live in a culture where people only give freely to those who have the appropriate publicity? We should be seeking the less fortunate and giving what we can.

I am not a little girl with disfiguring scars but in the last 4 years I have encountered hardships that most of you couldn't even imagine or have even bothered to ask me about. My cries for help and assistance frequently go unanswered - a general attitude of "It's not my problem", "I don't have time", "I don't have anything to give", "Its not a priority right now" are common responses. Additional responses come in the form of bias and judgments as to my decisions, medical care, and priorities. What happened is that I now intentionally isolate myself from my social circle because its been made apparent to me that my cries fall on deaf ears or that my community doesn't realize that a hug, a text message or a random surprise visit could be all I needed to make the day worth it. But we live in a country where we are stingy with our love and we deny people compassion on the premise that they don't deserve it or that we might get hurt or taken advantage of because we were generous with our hearts. But don't you see thats the whole point! We are here to give our from our hearts freely. Sure we get hurt but that's life. A hardened heart does not beat. A not beating heart is a dead heart. How can we call ourselves alive if our hearts are not beating and flowing with love, generosity, and compassion for not just who we trust but everyone?

Everyone deserves compassion. There is no way to know a persons story. We all have a story and at the end of our life we each will answer for our own mistakes and crimes. Our soul suffers. We don't need any help condemning ourselves. Reserve judgement for your own mistakes. Sure people may lie but that is on their conscience. Another persons wrong doing does not justify you jeopardizing your own soul. Wouldn't you rather sleep easy at night knowing you gave what you could to everyone you could regardless of whether they really needed it or not. Put yourself in their shoes. Consider how you would want to be treated were you in that situation- regardless of how you have been treated.

I am technically homeless and had been for the last 3 years. Were it not for the generosity of  one man I would have been without a roof over my head or necessary medical care. I can't begin to express my gratitude to this man who asked very little in return of me. He showed me love while others turned away, made excuses or stated it wasn't their problem. When I see someone pan-handling or sleeping on the street I think to myself, "that could have been me" and I give them what I have even when I really had nothing to give because I know that if I was there, in the spot where they stood, regardless of how I got there I still would obviously need help. I see suffering all around me. Poverty, disability, homelessness- we are all just struggling to survive but this is what life is. Suffering. Breaking free from suffering is offering ease to another but so few do it.