Today I could write about the fact that I pulled my hamstring doing lunges (approximately 30 lunges at that), or that my boss gave me $5 for stopping into work for 20 minutes to help out with random things. I didn't tell her my original intent was to just grab a mini-red velvet to reward myself for doing lunges (logically), but hey I guess it all worked out in the end. But instead I think I'll share about something I learned in class today; poverty is something we see daily, but never really have to think twice about it because we're the lucky ones. As much as I joke around about how unlucky I am with life's curveballs, I have a roof over my head, I have a job (which I love), I have a family that supports me emotionally and financially (thanks guys, IOU..lol), and the best friends I often don't deserve. I may not be a millionaire, but looking at everything I have, I'm pretty rich in life.
As we sat in class today, watching the documentary 30 Days, I couldn't help but compare my life to those who live below the poverty line. The documentary was about a couple that intended to live by minimum wage paychecks for one month. Doing anything for only a month would seem do-able, maybe a little difficult, but definitely do-able. But making less than $7 a day for hard laborious work, putting 18 hour days in- and coming home with under sixty bucks, is unsettling. That $60 has to feed a family, pay rent, electric, gas, telephone bills- leaving them with pennies left over (if not in debt). It seems so foreign to me, sickly almost, that a small amount of money can go all that way- when I recently bought a pair of yoga pants that cost more than that. I just wanted to kick myself after seeing that, thinking about all the good things I could be doing with my earnings and the fortune I have in my life. Seeing people having to choose between eating and heating the house, a decision I hope I never have to encounter in my adult years, is hard to watch. Usually the toughest decision I have to make each day is what to eat, not if I will eat. All my problems seem so small compared to those who have to live pay-check to pay-check picking and choosing what they truly need to survive.
I noticed that there is always a man sitting on the corner of Washington and Clinton, right outside Pancheros. He holds a sign that simply reads "anything helps", and hangs his head in hopes a stranger will fill his cup or his hand. Every day I walk past him, not thinking twice about his circumstances. But after watching this video something changed in me. Its not that I haven't helped before, but this time I made a promise to myself that I would share some of my life with those who need it more than me. If this man is there tomorrow, and I walk past him, I'm getting him a mini cupcake. Its not money, or a promise to a better life- but its something that could bring a smile to a man who needs one.
I just want to keep in the back of my mind that I am not at my lowest, I have support, a home, a family who cares, amazing people, a job, and education, and I am blessed with never having to worry about when I eat (Thank goodness).
As we sat in class today, watching the documentary 30 Days, I couldn't help but compare my life to those who live below the poverty line. The documentary was about a couple that intended to live by minimum wage paychecks for one month. Doing anything for only a month would seem do-able, maybe a little difficult, but definitely do-able. But making less than $7 a day for hard laborious work, putting 18 hour days in- and coming home with under sixty bucks, is unsettling. That $60 has to feed a family, pay rent, electric, gas, telephone bills- leaving them with pennies left over (if not in debt). It seems so foreign to me, sickly almost, that a small amount of money can go all that way- when I recently bought a pair of yoga pants that cost more than that. I just wanted to kick myself after seeing that, thinking about all the good things I could be doing with my earnings and the fortune I have in my life. Seeing people having to choose between eating and heating the house, a decision I hope I never have to encounter in my adult years, is hard to watch. Usually the toughest decision I have to make each day is what to eat, not if I will eat. All my problems seem so small compared to those who have to live pay-check to pay-check picking and choosing what they truly need to survive.
I noticed that there is always a man sitting on the corner of Washington and Clinton, right outside Pancheros. He holds a sign that simply reads "anything helps", and hangs his head in hopes a stranger will fill his cup or his hand. Every day I walk past him, not thinking twice about his circumstances. But after watching this video something changed in me. Its not that I haven't helped before, but this time I made a promise to myself that I would share some of my life with those who need it more than me. If this man is there tomorrow, and I walk past him, I'm getting him a mini cupcake. Its not money, or a promise to a better life- but its something that could bring a smile to a man who needs one.
I just want to keep in the back of my mind that I am not at my lowest, I have support, a home, a family who cares, amazing people, a job, and education, and I am blessed with never having to worry about when I eat (Thank goodness).
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