Thursday, June 9, 2011

Thinking on my feet


I can’t believe it’s been six days since my last post. I think this cold weather is a serious cause of brain freeze. Let’s not forget the freezing tootsies (toes). It certainly hampers my ability to think on my feet. All I want to do all day is hibernate under the covers.

The great thing about portable computers is the places that it allows you to write from. Tonight I’m snug under the blankets and grateful that it is not outside.

Sometimes – just for a moment – I try to imagine what it must be like to be homeless in the middle of winter. What it might be like to have only one set of clothes to your name and still be cold when you’re already wearing all you have. What it must be like to not have the modern amenities of a kitchen with a stove to prepare a warm meal or the nutrition that your body needs to keep you from getting sick. How do you sleep when you have no blanket, or the one you have is not sufficient to warm you. How do you sleep when your body can’t relax, trying to generate enough heat for you to survive till morning. How tired you must be? If you barely sleep, do you ever dream?

What it must be like for your life to be threatened over a piece of clothing, a blanket or maybe even a cardboard box shelter on a freezing winters night. They’re not interested in your Rolex watch or your diamond ring or your Mercedes Benz; just a blanket that could cause one to see another sunrise and one not to. My feet are freezing as it is, but imagine having no shoes, or shoes with no socks. Then imagine the one set of clothing you have or the only blanket you own being soaked in the rain and for the next three days – if you make it – the sun don’t shine and the temperatures don’t rise.

Sometimes I want to fix all the problems of the world and sometimes I just cry. Sometimes I’m just glad I’m not God because there are a lot of problems in this world. But every time it makes me grateful for the warm bed that I sleep in, the roof that shelters me from the elements, a hot shower, a full belly, a hot cup of coffee, the shoes, the jacket, the love that fills my life.

I might not be able to fix the world, but I know that somewhere, somehow I can make a difference. Someone can be warmer. Someone doesn’t have to be hungry. Someone’s life can somehow be better because of me. How about you?

6 comments:

  1. It already is!

    Garett

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  2. It's 2.30am and I was just wondering about our bunch of homeless people up the road. I feel guilty about this lovely cup of hot coffee beside me and the heater behind my back.

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  3. There is still so much more one can do, Garett. I'm sure of it!

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  4. You're not the only one feeling guilty, Cin :) We are SO blessed. Nowadays, if you really want to make a difference, you don't have to go too far. It's all around us.

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  5. Deep thoughts. I realize that I can't fix all of the world's problems, but I can make a difference in the lives of a few. If everyone did that, the cumulative effect would be very signficant.

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  6. You are absolutely right in your approach, Tracy. One can easily feel overwhelmed by the big picture but how is an elephant eaten, huh? One bite at a time - each one doing whatever they can. No one can help EVERYone, but I'm only thinking of it now: what if someone is helped and then they end up helping another? I'm sure that happens for real, even if it is the exception rather than the rule. In that happening the person who helped the 1st one has actually helped more than just one - even if indirectly. Makes me think of the movie Pay it Forward. Have you seen that?

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