We are people in common

What’s your problem? We all have them to lesser or greater degrees. No one’s life is problem free. Even if you don’t, someone you care about does and that’s a problem, too, because you care about them and it makes us concerned when people we care about have problems. Since we all have them that means we all have something in common and that makes us part of a community called the human race. As part of a community, we need to be mindful of each other’s problems. A community survives by looking out for each other and at the same time not expecting the help. We also must be responsible for ourselves. Could you imagine a whole world of people taking responsibility for their own lives, not blaming each other for our problems, and at the same time helping someone else? How much could we get done?

If everyone on the planet earth could indulge me for a moment, I presume everyone reads my blog. I need to check my stat counter…1..2..3... billion, yep, everyone’s here. Now, if everyone could reach back and take the hand of the person whose problem is worse than yours, and with your other hand reach forward and take the hand of a person in front of you who has a smaller problem than you, it should look something like this -- the person at Morton's Steakhouse whose steak came back not quite medium rare should be holding onto the person’s hand behind them who just got a ticket in their new Mercedes Benz for double parking. That person is holding onto the executive who just lost their job and only has a year’s severance pay. The executive has a firm grasp of the person’s hand that lost their home because they had no severance package and now lives in a one room apartment with three kids. In that person’s hand is the hand of the abused mother and her children who have fled their situation. She looks back to see the pink shirt of the woman who is battling breast cancer, but it was fortunately caught early. The same could not be said for the man whose hand she holds who was diagnosed too late. He has some time to say goodbye to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and in short time will be reunited with his wife. He tries to be strong for the young African woman who after being attacked by solders that killed her family, months later gave birth to a baby with Aids in the refugee camp that has no medicine, food, or clean water.

We have problems to greater or lesser degrees. Individually it’s about our own personal perspectives, but regardless of how you view them, what we have is the ability to extend our hands forward asking for help. We also have the ability to reach back and help someone less fortunate than ourselves. People of the earth, we have each other. On the count of three, everyone pull. Very nice. We gave each other a hand up. We moved the human race forward instead of standing there and focusing on our own problems. We helped and received help in return. Empathy is blind. You might have noticed that the hands of people you held are the same, not Christian, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist. It wasn’t a black, white, Asian, Hispanic, or Middle Eastern hand. It was the hand of a human being who needed a little help; a people in common.