HELPING OTHERS

I’m going to get on my soap box now.

Nobody takes the time to help others anymore. And I don’t mean your family and friends, that isn’t an option, that is a REQUIREMENT. Not enough people take the time to help a stranger, help the world, make a difference.

I think it’s unacceptable.

If you go through life, completely absorbed in you and your bubble alone, you are beyond selfish. There is more to the world then you and your family. To help no one, to go through life like that, is to be morally bankrupt.
If you take the time to go to Church on Sunday, trust me, God would much rather you skip ever other Sunday and go in your neighborhood and do some actual good. Instead of sitting on your but listening to the good that Jesus and the other saints did.

Give blood.
Join PTA.
Help out at a homeless shelter.
Write or e-mail your congressman.
Volunteer at an animal shelter.

Not everything takes a lot of time. Sign up for action alert e-mail from one of your favorite causes. (You need to have a favorite cause first) Humane Society. Planned Parenthood. BIOGEMS. NOW. Those are some examples. It takes all of 30 seconds to type your name on the bottom of a pre-made letter that they send you that you can then e-mail to your senator. They even can tell you who that is and what their address is. They really make it easy for you to get involved.

I HATE it when people say they don’t have time. If you don’t have 5 minutes to help someone or some cause beyond your circle of family and friends, then you need to take a good look at your life. Prioritize. You should have 5 minutes to do some good. Granted, maybe you're just going through a rough time right now, but if you NEVER have time... something is wrong. Fix it.

I’m not saying that all of your free time should be spent doing good. You can tell from the pics that I post that I’m having a blast. And I admittedly have been doing less since I had Joey. But I still manage to do something! In fact, here is some of the stuff I do to help others or the environment without ever leaving my house.

1) I have signed up for a lot of action alerts. I e-mail my representatives all the time.
2) Mark & I recycle EVERYTHING! Think, the next time you go to throw that yogurt cup in the garbage.
3) We are committing ourselves to replacing at least one meat dinner a week with a vegetarian one. (That means at least 2 meals, counting leftovers.) America’s addiction to meat, beef in particular, is unsustainable, unhealthy, and horrible for the environment. Here is a link to the recent TIME article about it. Now, I’m not saying we are going to become vegetarians. God or nature (whichever you prefer) gave me canine teeth; I’m supposed to eat meat. And I really enjoy it. But that doesn’t mean I need to eat it every day. I love strawberry cheesecake too, same principal.
4) Using green cleaning products, saving energy, hanging clothes out to dry (in the non rainy months) all lesson our impact on the world and help to save our precious resources.

Now let’s talk about things you can do to help your community. If you live in Miami, sign up to get e-mails from HANDS ON MIAMI. They are a volunteer organization that does all sorts of things around Miami on various days and at different times. Mostly high school kids who need the hours show up, but as long as you want to do some good, that is all it takes. I’ve helped paint a day care in Little Haiti. I helped clean up a Girls Scout Camp after a hurricane. I helped paint the support poles under I95 as part of a beautification project. And the great thing is, you invite your friends and family to join you and you are now multi tasking. Do a good dead, and spending quality time with friends and family.
Then there is RIDE FOR KIDS every January or February. And Baynaza around April or May.

You don’t have to do much, but please do something.

GET INVLOVED!

Okay, I’m done for now. If you took the time to read, thanks.