Sometimes Tragedy Puts Our Challenges into Perspective

I went to New Orleans as one of 250,000 American Red Cross volunteers when hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated that region in 2005.  It was an unforgettable experience that has allowed me during challenging times to put many things into perspective.  Seeing the devastation in Haiti brought my thoughts back to New Orleans and to the terrible conditions that people were cast into as a result of back-to-back severe hurricanes in that delta region.  I looked at my few photos, and sat for a moment just to think about it. 

The house parked on the car

At the disaster site, I gave out food and water, and hugged a lot of people in tears.  I heard a lot of very sad stories.  I also heard people say that they were just glad to be alive.  And I met hundreds of people who, like me, were willing to drop everything and help.  It was truly the most diverse group I have ever met, with one exception; they were all volunteers helping people they didn’t know.

So today, I am once again sobered by the crises that people are sometimes called upon to endure: the loss of loved ones and neighbors, the destruction of beloved family homes, the devastation to businesses and subsequent loss of income in one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries.  It is truly a sad day for the world.

These events remind me that regardless of my own challenges with financial growth in this current economic malaise, I’m doing just fine.

TIWIKE:  It’s easy to forget how good you have it.  Chances are you’re safe, relatively healthy, getting clean water and food each day, and have clean clothes on your back. Chances are that if you’re reading my blog you’re not only literate, but technically literate.  You have a working, thinking mind; the basis for so many things.  It’s likely that you’re in a pretty good position to leverage what you have and what you know into financial abundance.  Not so for many. 

On your toughest days, remember that in the scheme of things, you’re probably better off than many others around you.  It doesn’t make your problems go away, but it does help to give you a fresh look at yourself and your situation and feel confident that it will all be good in the end.

Resources:

Here is the Wiki on Haiti.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti>

Here is a place you can go to find out about how to help the affected people in Haiti right now.  If you can, I encourage you to help with funding.  If you can’t, I urge you to consider volunteering in some way that is possible for you.

<Google’s Haiti Relief page>

Quote of the Day:

“Be of service. Whether you make yourself available to a friend or co-worker, or you make time every month to do volunteer work, there is nothing that harvests more of a feeling of empowerment than being of service to someone in need. “
Gillian Anderson