The Less Fortunate

Growing up, I knew that I was poor.

Seriously, I knew from a very young age that I wasn't living in the best off family and there's no lying about that. My family was making great money when I was really young, but they...didn't know how to manage it. I'll put it that way. However, as time went on- those fantastic jobs were quit and lost in the end. Where does that leave my family now?

We're not in the best area. We rent a half-rotting house that's too small for the size of our family. The town we live in has drugs galore, highly racist, and within the first year of living there- a pipe bomb was set off just down the street from me. It's a slum, essentially, and I'm aware of that. A very small slum, sure, but still. Hell, my family calls our Landlady the slum Lord...which she is.

The thing of it is though...I always knew that there was someone worse off than me. In many cases, this is what has got me through my life without that entire 'poor me' attitude. Do I get that way sometimes? Of course I do, that's just human nature but once I remember that I'm not the first person to go through this, once I realize and remember that there are people out there without a roof over their head, I know that my life isn't so bad. As rude as that may seem to people.

I recently read this comment online, stating that people enjoy feeling superior to others- and by helping the poor, they feel superior. In some ways, if you enjoy this way of thinking, you could think that I feel superior because I'm not in that situation. The way that I look at it, is quite different in the end. Every time I think of someone in a worse position than me, I shut up. Seriously, I shut up all my whining and crying and wonder what in the hell made me think that I even had the right to cry about something so silly.

I wasn't hungry. I wasn't suffering. I wasn't being beaten or abused. I wasn't really in the position that I should think that I had anything to even be upset about. I was upset because I didn't have the greatest out there- and that's selfish in my eyes. It's selfish to be upset merely because you don't have something when you should be happy that you have anything at all.

In many ways, this shapes my entire outlook on life. I strive to not be my definition of selfish, I strive to not be selfish. Which, in many cases, I refuse to be. Grant it, sometimes, I'll do something selfish or I'll take something that I don't really need because it's offered. Even then, I know that I shouldn't take too much because it's something that the person could be using on themselves.

That's just how I am. I won't even stop to bother with my own emotional problems when someone else is going through something, because I know that sometimes- you just need that shoulder to cry on. However, I won't take a shoulder to cry on, because of my feelings of not wanting to burden someone with something.

In this day and age, I see a lot of people claiming that this generation is selfish. 'Give me more, give me more' types of people that are apparently being raised. Which in many cases? This is what it is. I won't deny that and I'd be insane if I even tried to. After all, it can't be denied when you see a 7 year old walking around with an iPhone but whining because he didn't get the toy that he wanted, right? I know I see someone spoiled right then and there.

Even despite how I am, my parents call me a 'Selfish little brat'. So who knows, maybe I am. Everyone has a good outlook on themselves when talking about themselves. Everyone loves to boast, brag, and make themselves look good. I'm not even aware if I'm doing it unconsciously at the moment- but I'm beginning to get off the subject and make this more about myself than getting to the point. I don't know if that's selfish or self-centered to tell the truth. lol

The problem with today's society is that the child with that phone? He's not even bothering to think of those who do not have such things. Grant it, he likely doesn't have the concept of the less fortunate in his mind yet, but based on his selfishness right then and there- he likely won't ever have that concept in his head based on parenting that's going on today. Children live on the streets and children live in homes, both innocent without control of their surroundings but one will always have a harsher time in their life.

Today, I read and watched a heart warming video on Yahoo News. It was about how a man inspired his children to found a charity organization that helps the homeless. I'll link the article at the end of this post. Reading through that article, it made me think about how I live. No job because I live in the middle of no where. Relying on my mother, the sole worker of my family, to support a family of five. Two teenage girls, one growing boy, a father who stays at home, plays video games and drinks, and herself. Oh! And a dog. Currently, we have nothing to spare for those around us, and I feel guilty for that. I truly feel guilty that I'm not helping out more- even though I financially can't do so...but there's other ways that I can.

That story has inspired me, quite a bit actually. Around my town, there's a lot of trash- right? Why am I sitting around instead of making our town a better place simply by picking it up? In the next town over, there's homeless people that could be helped simply with a five dollar bill- not that much money at all. If I strive to be so 'selfless' and focus less on myself than others, why am I just sitting around and keeping everything I own close to my chest when I could be helping others. Bring in cans at the canned food drives- or at least ramen or something.

So what I'm trying to say here, is very simply this:

We can't sit here and continue to ignore the problems of the world and care about ourselves.

I'm guilty of it too. I'm going to strive to change that, so that I can make a difference in the lives of others like those few people that have helped me and my family out through the years. I can't thank them enough for it either.

The Link:
How one Dad inspires teenagers to make 33,000 burritos for the Homeless