dear world.

jyl posted something today that i thought was something everyone should hear, so here it is...


"Dear World,

Jennie and I were talking about you the other day. We were talking about ways to give back to you, what we owe you, what parts of you make us want to be better people. I’m not sure what either of us will actually do out of the list of things we talked about, but I am sure that I don’t want to leave you, never giving you something back.

I’ve played with the idea of starting a charity of some sort for some cause I believe in or volunteering with people that don’t have much. Tristan talks about wanting to put someone through college that deserves it and can’t afford it. Jennie wants to do something for a program for people with disabilities. In the midst of us talking about ways to give back for what we’ve been given, I can’t help but take a step back and be grateful that this is our conversation, not asking about where the next meal is coming from or where we can find shelter for the night. How lucky are we that we can talk about helping others out and ask each other for ideas on how to give back to a world that has given us so much. I guess that when it comes down to it, the little things in life that we let get to us seem so small when we actually think about it.

About a year and a half ago or so, I posted something about a little boy who had to get both his legs amputated in order to save his life. At first, doctors thought they only needed to amputate one of his legs, and he adjusted to a life with a prosthetic leg, but then doctors discovered that they needed to amputate the other leg as well. He was 7 when they amputated his second leg. And this is what he said about it, “it was what I had to do, so I did it.” 7. A 7 year old is smarter than I am. I may have complaints about growing up, my job, bills, my weight, etc. but I feel like an ass when I remember this little boy and how brave he is. His problems are so much more than dealing with others around us that hurt us or bully us. And there is a whole world out there that has problems bigger than ours. So I am going to try to figure out in the next year or so how I can give back, starting now. It may not be much, and I know I won’t be able to start an entire charity yet, but I’m going to try to get something going in my life that can be the beginning of my giving campaign to the world.

Just think about it. If you’ve been lucky enough to even have internet in your house, or pay for lunch everyday at work, how can you give back; even if it’s just your time once a month or so."


so what's it going to be? i know that in my life as well i have been blessed with so much, and many of the people i know have been just as privileged. i often think about what i can do to give back, whether that be my time, resources, or money, and i always get so overwhelmed by possibilities that i just stop thinking about it. this is obviously not the ideal result. i think so many times people get overwhelmed by all the possibilities and so they don't choose any of them, just like me. i want to change that. i want to focus my attention outward instead of inward. focus on others more and myself less. take jyl's challenge and do something. anything. even if it's just something small. it will make a difference to someone, i'm confident of that.