The saying “things are not black and white, there are gray areas,” is tossing around in my mind daily at this point. Yes, there can be gray areas, but when it comes to pure human empathy, I only see a clear yes or no. Even with the simplest daily events, such as holding doors open for others, the course of action should be, yes, keep the door open. Or even getting in a Lyft, say good morning to the driver, and acknowledge them, they are people. Jumping into a car without a simple hello takes away a simple human connection. Perhaps the dismissal of these acts of kindness has turned the world into what it has become, a world where there is a division.
History shows there was always a division, light vs dark, black vs white, old vs young, and even different cultures against one another. There seems to always be a divide in some aspect or another. But the definition of insanity is repeating the same acts over and over again. Have we as humans forgotten the past and not learned from it? Do we not see how darkness is encroaching on us as a human race again? Holding a door open or saying good morning is so minuscule to what is actually occurring. People are being ripped away from their loved ones for no reason, taken away from their homes, and sent to locations to suffer for no reason. Americans are once again choosing to be blind. We are allowing the darkness to take over and not shine any form of light on reality. Even if we are shown the reality, we turn a blind eye and choose to be in the dark. We are allowing history to repeat itself, and I don’t understand why.
Why have we allowed one man or a segment of people to perpetrate inhuman practices? Have we not learned from the Holocaust or the countless other times in history where locking up humans just because they are different is sadistic? Did we not learn that allowing powerful people to run our media and news causes our voices to be squashed? It is still unclear to me why the darkness is taking over again in history. To me, it is simple: if it hurts another, don’t do it. Take the small steps to help others; those small smiles, hellos, and helping hands can ripple into human connections that have been extinguished. We need to open our eyes again and realize we allowed the dark to overtake the light. Is it because of power, or money? No, it seems like we are choosing to ignore reality once again. We have consumed ourselves with so much static noise to see what truly matters, being decent to one another.
I know I can do more to help others, but I am scared that everything I have worked so hard for will be taken away. I have allowed fear to prevent helping others that I know are being mistreated. I finally have a warm home, health insurance, and a stable income for my family, and I am scared that it will be taken away if I attempt to help others. How can I help and maintain safety for the ones I love? How do I allow my light to shine on others without allowing the darkness into my home? For now, it is smiles, connections, sending money here and there, allowing others to cry on my shoulder, and reaching out to those I know need a helping hand in my local circle.
There is no gray area on how to treat others, but there are limitations on how and how much we can help. I honestly wish we were not repeating history and had learned from our past selves. Why have we ended up here again as a human race?
Nobody-Default 