Making A Difference

What life have you touched today? In what small way did it matter. – The tiny man

We can go through life as a spectator. Never participating and just enjoying the acts of others. Some would say it may even be best. You can watch as good deeds go unnoticed, or good intentions have dire consequences that were never imagined. As a spectator though, you are safe from such things. Your only job is to watch and wonder. It is safe,

But in that safety comes a heavy price. When you watch others struggle, you do not struggle, but you’ll never know what it is to overcome an adversity with someone. To be that hand that pulls them through and shows them there is still decency in the world, and when you are the one calling out for decency, you will be glad there is a hand reaching out. Struggle also gives us the greatest friends, comrades, and confidants. You learn to trust and be trusted. When you make someone who is hurt or hopeless smile, you will find real joy. The joy of others can lift a person’s broken spirit like few things can. Being the spectator is safe, but loneliness is a price that few should be willing to pay.

I’m not foolish enough to tell you that it’s some magically thing where whenever you help someone it’ll turn out to change your life for the better. Rather, I’d say people change lives in general. You won’t always know if it will be good or not, but if you play it safe, nothing will change. For some, myself at times, they are okay with that. For most, go boldly forwards and make a difference.

The Wait

Read.

Seen.

Opened.

They are all a partial answer, but the reply is the full truth. Whether that someone is going to respond to keep the conversation going or find out more about you is what you await. What do we fear in this truth? A brief response, or worse no response. What do we hope for? Questions that show interest in us or just jovial conversation. The fear or hope decides whether it was worth the wait.

Read.

Seen.

Opened.

Forget them all. Read a book. See a movie. Open yourself up. Don’t let the wait control you. You can control your wait. That is the truth.

A day off

Long hours and slow minutes make for a mediocre day. You work your life away for a day off, but when it comes there is nothing to look forwards to. The games aren’t enough, the shows not adequate anymore, and the only company is the silence. A lonely ever coming silence. Your texts are left hanging. Conversations over before they have begun. Refreshing the page doesn’t give you anymore likes or love, but rather assurance that you are, without doubt, alone. You dream of a day off only to live the nightmare it brings. There is no joy in this loneliness.

Solitude. Stifling solitude. Strangling, suffocating solitude. Shocking, startling, savage solitude. The walls begin to close and the noise of the outside world is a distant thing that you want to be a part of, but people scare you. You scares you. When did making conversation become pointless, and companionship taxing. Has living a life always been this hard? Have thoughts always been this heavy?

Give it a rest. No one is listening. You’re just talking to yourself again and the argument is always the same. You can see the future. The one you desire in your mind. The person you want to be, but we know it’s a lie. A truth without truth. A wish of who you are, but who you will never be. Just sit there. Unsatisfied and unhappy waiting for something. Thinking of someone. Hoping for dramatic change. Soon work will be here again, and the desire for a day off will be back. The loneliness to follow.

If we are meant to struggle alone; we will do it together. – The companion within