Sometimes, when we see homeless man on the street, or a Facebook post from a friend asking for donations, we tend to shrug it off. "Someone else will get it", we think. "Surely it will work out."
I never read The Lorax when I was little, but the most famous quote of the book speaks volumes.
"Unless someone like you
cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better.
It's not."
But liking a quote doesn't mean you automatically apply it to your life. So I have gone about my way, holding a quote in my head and doing nothing with it.
Today, as I browsed Facebook, I saw a saddening post from an old acquaintance who had been trying to raise money to study in New Zealand. I had thought about giving money, decided to wait until payday, and bookmarked the link for later use. Then, naturally, I had completely forgotten about it.
I saw another post from her today about being unable to go. I quickly went back to the gofundme link, and sighed deeply.
No one had donated a thing.
This girl is truly one of the sweetest people I've ever met, and I've seen her worth undervalued more times than I can count. So, I whipped out my debit card and made a donation.
It was a few minutes after that transaction that it hit me; Unless someone like me cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. Every good deed done by mankind has started with someone saying "I will do this", rather than "Someone can take care of this that isn't me".
From now on, when I see things like that, I hope I'll try my best not to put them off. I hope I'll keep today in mind.
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