I was thinking about everything I wish I could be today. From big to small; life goals and little things about myself. And I realized that there are a million things we wish we could be. And every parent tells their child "you can be what ever you want to be". There is no way to say this without sounding like a pessimist, but the reality is that there are many things we will never be.
I wish that I could stay more organized. I'm great at getting organized but my fault comes with keeping things that way. I have a tendency to get busy and things get tossed, not put back where they belong, so on and so forth. I also wish that I could get in the habit of flossing my teeth. I can't tell you how many times I've started and not been able to form the habit. I wish I didn't procrastinate so much. I wish I could be truly confident instead of just faking it. I wish I could care less about what people think and more about my own needs. I wish I could talk less and/or more quietly. I wish I could be smarter. I wish I could be more beautiful. I wish I could learn to accept compliments better. I wish I could live free of pain. I wish I could be a fitness trainer to the stars, or an interior designer or a singer. And so on and so forth. But the truth is I may never be some of these things. There's really no way to tell which ones, it's all by trial and error. Some of these things I will achieve, and I'll do so with great satisfaction and joy. And none of them will happen unless I at least try. So while I accept the reality that I am what I am and that to an extent I can never be anything more, I'm also not going to let that stop me from at least trying.
I think trying is the important part. We don't try things because we are afraid of failure. But without trying we have already failed. Failure to try should be considered far worse than failing to do something. If in the end we were never meant to succeed at something we tried at least we know. And when we do succeed, and we will; it will be satisfying to know we took a risk, we worked hard, and it was worth it.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Haiti, the reality check...
Most of us never really think about the fragility of life until devastating events occur around us. My heart truly aches for those affected by the 7.0 earthquake that ripped through Haiti this last week. This event hits rather close to home considering that Yvenson Bernard, a former Oregon State Footballer, and acquaintance of mine has been seriously affected. His uncle lost both legs and he just recently got word that his 8-year-old half-brother has been found safe. His parents were both Haitian natives and he has many relatives still living there that he has yet to hear from. I truly admire the fact that he is reaching out not only to those relatives but to everyone impacted in this poorest of countries. I urge everyone to do anything that they can to help. Yvenson's Haiti Relief Fund has been set up with many ways to donate and many locations to donate at. My thoughts and prayers are with Yve as he embarks on his mission the 27th.
So many of us take for granted the fact that we live in a country that is so rich in not only money but opportunity, technology and access to health care among other things. These people have nothing. Our buildings have strict codes to help withstand earthquakes, many of the buildings in Haiti were barely standing before the quake hit. And while it took a lot of man power and hours and money to get aid to the hurricane Katrina victims, it was far more readily available. Haiti is not only poor, but so isolated. Many have waited days for not only medical care, but basic needs like clean water to drink. The pictures we are receiving are a grounding, heart-wrenching sight. But I believe without these raw reality invoking images, we would not understand the true gravity of the situation. I have been brought to tears each time a new set of images is released. Similar images were withheld during the hurricane Katrina disaster. Perhaps if people had seen the images of bodies floating in the streets tied to sign poles or piled in the streets more people would have been compelled to donate, or travel down to volunteer and it would have happened more quickly. And just the same there is a huge censorship of images from the middle-east, because if we were to see those images people may not support the war nearly as much. Images really do speak volumes.
The images of those killed by the disaster are not the only shock in this situation. We are seeing once again as we did with Katrina that when put in life or death situations, people will do anything to survive and/or to protect their means to survive. The looting has already begun. I am torn in a situation like this. Those who are looting luxury items are clearly in the wrong. However, when it comes to things needed to survive I have a hard time casting judgement or thinking the police should be arresting these people. We must eat to live and it is in our primal human nature to do what it takes to survive. So many people have lost everything. While I understand the need for shopkeepers to protect their goods as it is their source of money and thus their source of survival, at the same time many people have gone days without food or water while waiting for help to come. Many of these people are stealing so that they can feed their children or those who are still trapped in the rubble of buildings. It truly is tragic.
Everyone affected by this tragedy has been in my thoughts and prayers. Whether they are families in outside of the country waiting to hear news from family or friends, or the people at the heart of this disaster. I cannot begin to imagine living somewhere that if a quake hit, would crumble to the ground, or where aid would not readily be available. Save for the fact that these people led sub-par lives before this event. They already had a crisis at hand when it came to health care, nutrition, and a highly unstable political and economic situation. We have it SO good in America. But we must also not forget that disaster could strike us at any moment as well. For those like me living in the Northwest, we do still have the ever present threat of earthquakes. I have experienced two mild earthquakes in my lifetime, lucky to have not suffered any adverse results. And growing up in the Seattle area we are from time-to-time, reminded of the looming threat of a volcanic eruption. An event such as that would surely devastate the area. Flooding has also been a very serious issue for smaller regions in the area. For the Midwest the threat is primarily tornadoes and often times drought during the summers. Hurricanes are a yearly threat to those living along the gulf and the east coast... But for all of us, we live in a country with the economic ability to respond to these types of crisis, and aid is far more readily available and abundant. We also have strict building codes to help withstand forces of nature and insurance for those in at-risk areas. For these things we need to be grateful, but still understand that we must appreciate the things we have in this moment for the next it could all be gone... It really puts life into perspective when these things happen.
So many of us take for granted the fact that we live in a country that is so rich in not only money but opportunity, technology and access to health care among other things. These people have nothing. Our buildings have strict codes to help withstand earthquakes, many of the buildings in Haiti were barely standing before the quake hit. And while it took a lot of man power and hours and money to get aid to the hurricane Katrina victims, it was far more readily available. Haiti is not only poor, but so isolated. Many have waited days for not only medical care, but basic needs like clean water to drink. The pictures we are receiving are a grounding, heart-wrenching sight. But I believe without these raw reality invoking images, we would not understand the true gravity of the situation. I have been brought to tears each time a new set of images is released. Similar images were withheld during the hurricane Katrina disaster. Perhaps if people had seen the images of bodies floating in the streets tied to sign poles or piled in the streets more people would have been compelled to donate, or travel down to volunteer and it would have happened more quickly. And just the same there is a huge censorship of images from the middle-east, because if we were to see those images people may not support the war nearly as much. Images really do speak volumes.
The images of those killed by the disaster are not the only shock in this situation. We are seeing once again as we did with Katrina that when put in life or death situations, people will do anything to survive and/or to protect their means to survive. The looting has already begun. I am torn in a situation like this. Those who are looting luxury items are clearly in the wrong. However, when it comes to things needed to survive I have a hard time casting judgement or thinking the police should be arresting these people. We must eat to live and it is in our primal human nature to do what it takes to survive. So many people have lost everything. While I understand the need for shopkeepers to protect their goods as it is their source of money and thus their source of survival, at the same time many people have gone days without food or water while waiting for help to come. Many of these people are stealing so that they can feed their children or those who are still trapped in the rubble of buildings. It truly is tragic.
Everyone affected by this tragedy has been in my thoughts and prayers. Whether they are families in outside of the country waiting to hear news from family or friends, or the people at the heart of this disaster. I cannot begin to imagine living somewhere that if a quake hit, would crumble to the ground, or where aid would not readily be available. Save for the fact that these people led sub-par lives before this event. They already had a crisis at hand when it came to health care, nutrition, and a highly unstable political and economic situation. We have it SO good in America. But we must also not forget that disaster could strike us at any moment as well. For those like me living in the Northwest, we do still have the ever present threat of earthquakes. I have experienced two mild earthquakes in my lifetime, lucky to have not suffered any adverse results. And growing up in the Seattle area we are from time-to-time, reminded of the looming threat of a volcanic eruption. An event such as that would surely devastate the area. Flooding has also been a very serious issue for smaller regions in the area. For the Midwest the threat is primarily tornadoes and often times drought during the summers. Hurricanes are a yearly threat to those living along the gulf and the east coast... But for all of us, we live in a country with the economic ability to respond to these types of crisis, and aid is far more readily available and abundant. We also have strict building codes to help withstand forces of nature and insurance for those in at-risk areas. For these things we need to be grateful, but still understand that we must appreciate the things we have in this moment for the next it could all be gone... It really puts life into perspective when these things happen.
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