"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?

Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."

I have grown up in rich white suburban USA. SUVs, over priced and overly clean grocery stores, and ever changing and expensive fashion all dominate the streets of my memory, along with an empty sense of purpose and humanity. Ghandi's quote is fairly straight forward but what should jump out at us is the call to make a choice. This choice is whether or not we decide to continue with our conditioned ways.

Growing up we are taught that we should be nice and respectful, that we should recycle and care for others and that giving is more important than receiving. But our actions reflect an entirely different picture as stated so clearly and bluntly by this brave individual.

We have learned to chose to harm our world. I recognize that is a cold statement, but that is where the fruit hides. But first, we must fully and openly recognize the choices we make, day in and day out.

We have chosen to leave our fellow humans on the street. Everyday I walk by individuals waiting patiently for a passerby to recognize their existence by giving them a small piece of change. I am one of those passerbys. I do give money, a horribly small amount, but why do I not give someone the couch in my living room? Because I choose not too.

Choosing to be indifferent destroys. But what is the definition and reach of indifference? Am I being indifferent when I spend 5 USD on a beer instead of giving it to the person on the street? Am I being indifferent when i chose to eat meat when i readily know that the meat industry in my country is creating an environmental disaster? My answer is yes.

The society I have been raised in breeds indifference, and I have helped perpetuate the disaster. That is why my heart weeps and the faces of the poor rightfully flood my thoughts. However, a phoenix can only rise from the ashes.

I hope I have the strength to listen to my heart and the hearts of others. Thus, let my faith in our humanity be demonstrated through my action and let my actions demonstrate how far I am willing to go to make a difference.

Differences are only in our world made when we decide to make a choice, and...

I have a choice.

Have you ever been late for work or in a rush to meet someone and then run into every red light while driving? I had a professor who asked this same question but then told my class to take a different approach to the normal, "Oh shit, I need this light to change now!" She suggested that you just sit in your seat and relax. Getting stressed out won't make the light change any more quickly.

I find this all too common in our lives. It almost seems we forget about our own life when we are caught up in the work, run, and go type lifestyle. In the USA, our rates of mental illnesses and disorders, heart attacks, unhealthy diets, and all that junk hit us everyday in giant numbers. Why?

Well I am guilty of living the work, run, and go type lifestyle. When I am stressed out with work I find myself wishing for the weekend. This is completely worthless. There is so much to experience in the present. Whether it is giving an extra smile to a stranger, giving a hand to a co-worker, or running a blade of grass through my fingers, I find that my day is much better. Stress just washes away what little a valuable time you and I have left.

"There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever," this is a quote by Gandhi. I think that we can also use the word stress along with worry. And, making another little change, I think that anyone who has any faith in anything doesn't need to worry about a single thing. If you live your life, smile, be nice, laugh, and help out, then what do you have to worry about?

Life is all about perspective. We are all going to die and that fact can be just as beautiful as many of my friends thinks it is ugly. It is also true that every day lived is one day closer to our death. And yet, each day is just as important as the next. Yes, there are many horrible things in this world and these things happen to people everyday there are things that even deny many people the most basic rights in life. But if you are reading this right now then you are probably not one of those people.

It may be very difficult, if not impossible, to not feel down, depressed, alone, or washed up at times. But if you just keep the idea that everything will work out, no matter what, then you may start to feel better. Really, try it.

Put your stress aside and know that everything will be okay, as it always has been and will be. You are alive so don't waste your life by getting worried or stressed about today or tomorrow.  There will always be someone to hold you up: a friend, a god, or a stranger.

I wanted to write an entry in response to a comment by Ladybear from a few months back. I would have loved to respond sooner but I was a little busy. She said...

"We each have our destiny.
Some choose to stay here in the US, and some have a wanderlust that is always present. That is the way it is with me. I love to travel and to keep moving toward adventure.
As we get older things change and we can't do it as easily.
I say do what you are doing now, while you are young enough to be so free."

I completely agree with all of this. Everyone lives in a different world and all of our worlds overlap. What we decide to do in our world is up to us. There are friends of mine who don't understand why I would want to leave my family and friends at home to travel abroad for months at a time. Well I don't expect them to understand why I do but I don't expect myself to fully understand why someone wouldn't want to travel. What I do expect is that we all respect each others differences. We all live in this world and we all need to do our part.

An interesting thing happened when I was visiting a Mountain school the in central highlands of Peru. At the moment I cannot recall the city name but is was about 45 min. south of Huancayo. There were giant rolling mountains with cliffs jetting out as if they were trying to catch some fresh air. The town was born of brown mud buildings. The school was two stories and cement walled with its own courtyard. Another courtyard that could have easily fit three full sized soccer fields was the entrance for the school. The mountainous hills were holding the town in its arms as if its sole purpose was to care for the towns children. When standing in the middle of the courtyard in front of the school one person cannot help but to feel absolute peace.

Well in the school I was sitting in a circle with about 30 of the schools 150 children. They were free to ask my any question about my county, the USA. Half-way through the questioning one quite boy politely raised his hand and asked (this is my translation), "What about your war?" In this little mountain town in the middle of the Peruvian Andes, this young boy new enough to ask me about the war in Iraq! Well anyone knows me or has been reading my blog probably has a generally good idea of what my response was.

It is interesting to learn about your own country from the outside and how people feel about it. That in itself is a very good reason to travel. Yes, I said before one person doesn't necessarily need to travel to learn about the world but I do think it helps in more ways than you can imagine. Basically if I have to sum up what I had said in the last two blogs into one sentence I would say this...

Do what you need to do to learn, experience, and help your world, just make sure that you do it.

Peace

It is interesting traveling here (peru) after working in Tanzania. I was in shock after walking through the orphanage in Peru for the first time. Issues in Tanzania are things the children here, at the orphanage i work at, don´t have to think twice about. Running water, food, shelter, disease, and education all taken care of. I am actually relieved to be working at an orphanage like this because it is have been great for me to see opposite ends of the spectrum. Now with that said, there are still many things that children here need. Some of the orphans here come straight from the street. One young boy lived with his parents and they had him take drugs so he would´t be hungry. this is one extreme example and not all the children here have lived like this. What i knew, but now can see, is that there are people in need wherever you go.

I have been asked in the past about why i have chosen to volunteer abroad and not so much at home. For me, i don´t like to look at the world in terms of countries or lines on a map. I used to be someone who wanted to fill my entire passport with stamps but the more i work with people the more i don´t see that as a need for me. Taking the time to live in three extremely different cultures (Wisconsin, Tanzania, and Peru) have helped to not only realize, but feel that i don´t need all those stamps. Although the cultures and languages have been very different, i have learned in my heart that all people are the same. We all want to laugh, love, and live. You will find that is a commonality wherever you go. Borders and boundaries don´t change that fact that we all are the same and that we all live on the same earth. I guess I have wanted to travel and volunteer abroad because seeing that we are all the same is something that I have wanted to experience in my heart.

Does one person need to travel to see that we are all the same? I do not think so. Maybe that was a fault of mine, having to travel to fully embrace this concept. Reading a book about a new culture or life, introducing yourself to a complete stranger for no reason, and giving a hand to someone in need are all things someone can do to see this equality. And these are things that i will continue to do when i arrive home. In the USA, homelessness and poverty are a great concern to me. There is a reason why an international aid organization, like Save the Children, has given attention to places like Appalachia and others. So where will i go next? I´m not sure, but, at the moment, i´ll give a hand where ever it is needed.

Where will the world be in 25, 50, 100, or more years? Where are we going?

This is a thought that crosses through my mind almost everyday. Yes, I live in the wealthiest nation in the world full of cars, televisions and TV shows, cell phones, shopping malls, and fast food. Still there are over 3.5 million Americans live homeless each year. Mankind has even climbed the tallest mountain in the world, but 30,000 children die a day from the devastating effects of extreme poverty. We are able to fly around the world and yet, there are over 27 million people living as slaves, a number which is greater now than during the transatlantic slave trade. These are topics that you, me, and many others are keenly aware of but where will these numbers be 50 to 100 years from now?

Life is here and life is now. The past is gone and the future has not happened yet. But this does not mean that I believe that they don't exist. The entirety of our past and future all exist at this very moment. I have already asked the question of where the world will be in 50 to 100 years. If the past and future are in this moment then next 100 years is right in front of us. This gives us the ability to change what we see in our daily lives but also the future.

Mohandas K. Ghandi once said, "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." This is how I am looking to live my life as I have not found anything else to be more important. The more I find myself giving back everything that I have been given in life, the more contacted I feel to the world I live in. There is a famous quote that says something like, "When a person dies, an entire world dies with them." On our planet there are over 6.5 billion worlds. I am not out to change the entire world or anyone else's, that is a quest that may too big for anyone to venture on. I am only trying to change my own, the one that exists right in front of me . And in this way, maybe I can help give someone the opportunity to change their own world, just as others have done for me.

An African proverb says, "When you pray, move your feet." Nothing is more noble, worthy, or righteous than to fight for the life of a fellow human, but only once we are united will we have the chance to change the fate of those dying to survive. I will not go very far in achieving my dream of spreading peace and eradicating poverty if I am out moving my feet alone.

Finding this website has reminded me that I am not alone. And this reminder has given light to a new hope that maybe the future may not have to be so bleak. Even though the poverty gap continues to widen, even though several wars are being fought at this very moment, and even though there are children living and starving alone on the street, maybe there is something we can do. Maybe there is a way to unite people from all reaches of the world to create one unifying voice of peace.

War, poverty, homelessness, disease, hunger, violence, and the other tribulations imposed on humankind have no borders, boundaries, or preference for religion, race, culture, country, or faith. If we, humankind, are ever to reduce the number of people affected by these ills then we must unite. We must move our feet together.

I have been carrying these thoughts for too long without telling anyone. Now maybe this means that it time for me to start taking more action. If it is, then the only time to do it would be here and now.

Thoughts?