Ever Stop and Think?

Holy

Well I'm not really sure if I put this topic in the right place, but I felt that I had to just put this out there.

For sometime I've had very... deep... thoughs about the world and the human race. I am a christian, so this doesn't have anything to do about conflicting faiths or anything like that.

Now that I'm older and more muture, I tend to look at a lot of things differently. Like how lucky I am to be alive. Believe it or not people, but thousands of people die every day. What if one of those people where you? or a close friend or family member? Do you actually stop and think about how good your life is compared to some people?

I know I have a good life. I've got friends, living with my mom, dad, and sister (, and cat called Pepper Very Happy

). We are middle class. We have a nice big home in a nice community. I have nice things, nice clothes, and food every meal. And I know that this is really good compared to others, but I just can't get rid of the feeling like I want more. I know it's wrong for me to want more, when others have so little.

Slightly off-topic now. It's funny to see rich, famous people take their lives for granite. They never stop and think "what if I lost everything the next day?". Yes, they may give some of their money to charity, but they still have loads of money left. They don't seem to be affected by the feeling of knowing that other people are poverty stricken and don't no where their next meal is coming from or where they're going to sleep tonight.

Please post some comments on this. Also please feel free to add anything to this. And also please tell me if you thought about any of these things or felt the way that I do about this.

crdowner

Like you, I do some times think about the lives of others but also like you I rarely do anything about it. I do give to a few charities but that seems pretty trivial.

Holy

Same. My family and I support a child named David who lives in India. We give money and write to him and stuff like that. I wish I could do something more though.

paul_indo

It is a good thing to realise how lucky you are and that many people do not have what we take for granted.

I move from a western country to Indonesia nearly ten years ago and it is very easy to see examples of how hard life can be in a country like this. You just have to step out of your front door.

I think we should do what we can when the opportunity arises, but not get depressed by the difficulties some people face. That helps no one and we are not guilty for having a good life, just lucky.

By the way I think maybe this should have been in General Chat. Maybe a moderator can move it there or where ever they feel it should be.

loryl

First of all, what makes you think the rich take everything for granted? Do you know the thought processes of every rich person to make such an assumption? What's wrong with them just giving only *some* of their money to others while will having a bunch left? Do YOU give everything to charity? Would YOU leave your family and everything you owned to help others? If you can't expect this of yourself, then it's unreasonable to expect it of others. Be a bit more open and don't stereotype.

As for wanting more, most of us have thought this at some point. Many have also come to the realization that they won't live forever. Scary thought, isn't it?

However, you CAN live forever. Not physically, no. Through the minds of others, yes. Unless there's some great scientific breakthrough that will allow us to become immortal, we'll only be alive for about 100 years. During that short time, it's not the fact that we existed, but what we've contributed to our society, species, planet, or universe that is important in years to come.

You don't have to discover the cure to cancer or attempt to eradicate an entire ethnic group for people to remember you. Just help your next door neighbor, the elderly lady crossing the street, the stranger on the sidewalk who looks confused. If you've done all that and still aren't satisfied, then open your eyes and look at the world around you: the genocide in Darfur, child prostitution in Southeast Asia, starvation and the AIDS epidemic in many of the world's developing countries...

And don't just stand there; DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

Every little bit helps.

If you devote your life to helping others, you won't wake up with the feeling that you only have a limited number of days left before you die, but that you'll have so much to do still and no time to complain.

Good luck.

bangala

lyddi8