Social Service and Its Rewards: The Solutions to Complacency

There are many things that we complain about in our lives. Whether we focus on the lack of socioeconomic advantages, lack of proper education and enough experiences to compete for a job, or we just complain because we can, we most certainly never consider the fortunate circumstances that permit us the luxury of complaining. One such fortunate circumstance is the blessing of being alive and being able to help the less fortunate and more destitute individuals in our midst. However, we are so caught up in focusing on the negatives of the talents we possess, that we are unable to see the positive light that emanate from them. Why? We have essentially forgotten the struggles of our parents and ancestors, the struggles of our neighbors both domestically and internationally, and the fact that we now have the opportunity to appreciate more than most individuals possess in this life. For example, it is not a hidden fact that many of us owe some type of debt and are living on a paycheck-to-paycheck type of system. Thus, the reasoning for, and among the justifications given for the continuous complaints and lack of humanity to others we perceive as threats to overcoming our distresses and dilemmas. Some of us owe student loans and are struggling to pay our rents, mortgages, car payments, credit card bills, electricity bills, telephone bills, and too many other bills to list here. Others become dismayed because just when they thought one bill was resolved, another bill arrives in the mail. Well, I say that challenges in our lives serve purposes even though we might be blinded by our prejudices and unreasonableness in focusing on the purposes they serve. Whenever you sit down and commence feeling sorry for yourself and the amount of bills you have to pay, try to think about your decisions, privileges, and the rights afforded to you by this wonderfully inhumane world. We choose whether we want to use phones, televisions, and other material items that we so crave to give our lives meaning. Our neighbors do not have many choices except for hunger and pain. I presume that the choices of hunger and pain are not ones that are easily adapted to especially when food, clothing, and shelter are so accessible to so many who are able to assist by engaging in social services and volunteerism. There are places in Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, and many other third world countries where women, men, and children would give anything to have food, clothing, and shelter. Our system seems to be geared towards the incarcerated and those who can afford to pay for health premiums…usually individuals who are at a certain income bracket way beyond the $30,000 per year job. We have access to so much, with compassion for none. We are selfish, ungrateful, and egoistic to the extent that we will only assist the destitute once or twice per year (Thanksgiving and Christmas) and then boasts of our goodwill to our neighbors. What about the rest of the year, and the rest of our neighbors? I am yet to encounter an individual who only eats, sleeps, and become sick twice per year throughout his or her lifetime. I may not be able to solve all the world’s problems but I hope that you can join me in changing one dysfunction at a time. Let us not be hypocritical and speak of the obvious derelict in performance of our government and leaders, while we display the same pompous and underhanded behaviors we speak of. Change begins with one person and complaining never resulted in any issues being resolved in a venerable manner. Help someone else and help yourself. Continue paying those debts while reducing your need for happiness in material items by reducing and eliminating unnecessary spending. Do not complain without taking action or else you only succeed in whining, and that is just not proper or admirable. Change your outlook on life by making informed decisions and being accountable for your own actions. While you’re doing so, go volunteer at a soup kitchen for homeless individuals and visit www.volunteermatch.org to locate some volunteer work to occupy times when you become too complacent and pompous. There are always individuals who are suffering much more than we are.