Change the Man in the Mirror.

At school I loved history and I still do, in class we had lectures on the Dark Ages, the Middle Ages, and the indescribable violence and hardships of everyday life, living through the horrors of the plague and raids. Life during the Middle Age.

We memorized the different social classes; The farmers, the tradesman, the seigniory, and the king.  Exploitation of the masses to feed the few said, Karl Marx. We then quickly covered the chapter on slavery, genocide, the industrial revolution, and Darwinism. Industrial Revolution . We were made to memorize dozens of battle dates, names of the kings, queens, military leaders, monuments to our heroes. Thank God! I was thinking, I was born now when I could enjoy all the benefits of an easy and comfortable life. I never related to any of the historical events.  Those were a long time ago, we were now wiser, smarter, we had the protection of our constitution, our laws and our leaders are not born but they are elected by the people. We have a democracy. Little did I know...  when I scratched the surface, nothing looked like it seemed. My utopia was an illusion kept alive by social media, television, now smart TVs and the latest iPhone. We are kept in a haze of pink, fluffy clouds. We are entertained to keep us happy. Didn’t the Romans already get that down to an art at the Coliseum?  

Meanwhile, a select few are deciding what we need, what we want, and what's best for us. Like when we build monuments for the Holocaust to remind us “never again” yet we say "never again" in the looming smoke shrouding genocides of the 20th Century.20th-21th Century Genocide

Exploitation of a group by another seems to be a fact of the world from its genesis. Today the gap between those who have and those who have not still separate us by class, gender, and color. At any given time, somewhere in our global world, there are civil wars, wars, hunger, diseases, natural disasters, and terrorist attacks. The suffering of humanity is unimaginable. We are informed of these events in 30-second segments between a game and the next reality T.V. show during the evening news. If we blinked we miss it. McDonald's new menu deal or the latest luxury car advertisement is infinitely louder and grab more interest. We are made to be desensitized to suffering, to violence, to humanity’s cries.

The United States of America is a very young country, in its 250 years since its independence, it was always involved directly or indirectly in conflicts. List of Wars involving the United States

The first thing the pilgrims did is the genocide of the native.

Civilization is a freight train destroying anything in its path. I felt overwhelmed with all the misery, the sadness, and cruelty we can subject to one another. I felt helpless, insignificant, that the problem is too great to solve. I thought that humans are inherently cruel.

Then there are those people with extreme acts of kindness, devotion, those who make ultimate sacrifices for humanity: Christ, Joan of Arc, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa.. Figures which give me back hope.

I wanted to make a difference too. I did not have blinding faith, I didn't have super powers, I was not special...I given up before even trying. My solution? stop watching the news all together.

Burying my head was obviously not the solution. I could maybe not stop world hunger, injustice, racial divides, wars or poverty, but I could donate my time, I could volunteer to soup kitchen, to big brother or big sister, habitat for humanity…Volunteer Opportunities there are so many organizations who need help.

I did not need to look too far to find I could make a difference. I offered financial support for the college expense of a family member whose parents did not have the means. In return I only asked that she passed her classes and pay it forward.

“We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give. - Sir Winston Churchill

Little acts of kindness is not going to make me famous but the repercussion of a simple act are infinite.  We may not witness it, but in that moment we know.

You too make a difference in your life and in someone else’s. I am not advocating extremes, starting in our neighborhood, your community, you can make a difference.

“No act of kindness no matter how small is ever wasted”  - Aesop

when you see someone  embarrassed for being short of a couple cents or a couple of dollars on her groceries, step in and offer to cover the difference - skip your Latte today - . At school someone is on the side lines, go to say hello. At the parking lot, ask the attendant how is his day. Little acts of kindness are like little stars. One at a time, they illuminate the night sky.

“ Be the change you want to see in the world.” - Ghandi