It Takes a Community
Every March I used to take a group of students to hear speakers about the Holocaust. Not people, who are experts on the subject, people who lived through it and had real stories to tell. It was always such a moving experience and opened the door to many conversations for my students. I, myself, was always moved by how these people dealt, and continue to deal, with this horrific tragedy. How can you come out of something like that and not be broken? Angry? Bitter? Yet the resiliency of the human soul is an amazing and awe inspiring thing.
I have to wonder though, why is it that some folks can come through the most challenging of situations and yet go on to lead happy productive lives, while others are crushed and broken and can never seem to rise above it?
Maya Angelou once said, “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”
“We are the sum of our experiences” and “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger” are well known quotes that have a very profound meaning.
In my own experience, I know that in every difficult situation, there was always someone I could turn to who genuinely cared and was willing to be there for me. I can think back to the time when I was in 4th grade and excited because my baby sister would soon be born. I couldn’t wait to have a sister. The day finally came (actually, it was the middle of the night). My father, who worked in the coal mine, was working night shift that week. I remember my grandmother coming to stay with my brother and me while my mother went to the hospital by ambulance. I could hardly go back to sleep, little did I understand my joy would be short-lived. We soon received a phone call stating that my father was injured at work and was taken to the hospital. My mother, in a different hospital, was having difficulty in childbirth and, although my sister only lived for 2 hours, I mourned her passing deeply. With a father in one hospital and a mother in the other, my grandmother had her hands full. Perhaps she just felt that I was too young to really understand, but fortunately for me, there was someone else, my 4th grade teacher. She would listen when I needed to talk and she would even call me at home just to check on me. I was miserable, but I knew someone cared and was there for me. Just one person made a huge difference in my ability to work through my grief.
If giving of ourselves will help another pass through a difficult time, don’t we have some responsibility to each other? Our children face tremendous challenges every day. The struggles many of them deal with on a daily basis would astound you. Did you know that in some areas of our country, they judge how big to make the prisons based on the size of the third grade classes???
Many people who have grown up in difficult situations and yet were able to become successful, productive adults can name at least one person who was there for them through it all.
Maya Angelou also said, “I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.”
If we can make a difference for even one child by being that support they need to get through life, isn’t it worth our time and effort? What can each of us do for a struggling child? How can we be a support, a listening ear? Are we willing to get involved?
Not sure where to start? Here are some ideas, I'm sure our readers have many more.
Big Brothers, Big Sisters
Boy Scouts of America
Girl Scouts of America
Ronald McDonald House
Your local library or hospital
Your school district
I have to wonder though, why is it that some folks can come through the most challenging of situations and yet go on to lead happy productive lives, while others are crushed and broken and can never seem to rise above it?
Maya Angelou once said, “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”
“We are the sum of our experiences” and “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger” are well known quotes that have a very profound meaning.
In my own experience, I know that in every difficult situation, there was always someone I could turn to who genuinely cared and was willing to be there for me. I can think back to the time when I was in 4th grade and excited because my baby sister would soon be born. I couldn’t wait to have a sister. The day finally came (actually, it was the middle of the night). My father, who worked in the coal mine, was working night shift that week. I remember my grandmother coming to stay with my brother and me while my mother went to the hospital by ambulance. I could hardly go back to sleep, little did I understand my joy would be short-lived. We soon received a phone call stating that my father was injured at work and was taken to the hospital. My mother, in a different hospital, was having difficulty in childbirth and, although my sister only lived for 2 hours, I mourned her passing deeply. With a father in one hospital and a mother in the other, my grandmother had her hands full. Perhaps she just felt that I was too young to really understand, but fortunately for me, there was someone else, my 4th grade teacher. She would listen when I needed to talk and she would even call me at home just to check on me. I was miserable, but I knew someone cared and was there for me. Just one person made a huge difference in my ability to work through my grief.
If giving of ourselves will help another pass through a difficult time, don’t we have some responsibility to each other? Our children face tremendous challenges every day. The struggles many of them deal with on a daily basis would astound you. Did you know that in some areas of our country, they judge how big to make the prisons based on the size of the third grade classes???
Many people who have grown up in difficult situations and yet were able to become successful, productive adults can name at least one person who was there for them through it all.
Maya Angelou also said, “I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.”
If we can make a difference for even one child by being that support they need to get through life, isn’t it worth our time and effort? What can each of us do for a struggling child? How can we be a support, a listening ear? Are we willing to get involved?
Not sure where to start? Here are some ideas, I'm sure our readers have many more.
Big Brothers, Big Sisters
Boy Scouts of America
Girl Scouts of America
Ronald McDonald House
Your local library or hospital
Your school district
Labels: make a difference, resiliency, support, volunteer
posted by Sharon Thistlethwaite at
10:17 AM
2 Comments:
I believe in the theory that to whom much has been given, much shall be required. If you are blessed in your life (and I definitely have) then you should find a way to give back to the community. Mentoring a child can be a wonderful way to do that. I hope more people step up to the plate to help others.
I think my favorite quote is also appropriate for this post. It's by Theodore Roosevelt:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home