Pain
I have just read the story of Victoria Stafford, the young girl brutally abducted, raped and murdered. In the same area of the story is one of the "only way is Essex" morons, compaining about her skin peeling after her Dubai holiday.
I want to spit.
It literally hurts me to know that that little girl must have been terrified in her last few moments. How can I look at the world in a positive and beautiful way, when horrific and senseless things like this happen?
Zara Baker is another story that makes me very emotional, I wrote a blog about her a while back and followed her story on the news. Murdered, dismembered and scattered across two counties. A little girl who had bravely beaten cancer twice, losing a leg and her hearing in the process.
How can I live my life, complaining about not getting a job in five minutes, worrying about my future and what car I will drive? How dare I live my life like that?
Is there anyway to still accept and take in these stories, without becoming furious, hurt and bitter? Because that's the way I feel.
12 Comments
If you want the bad news, it gets worse when you become a parent in ways that are simple to explain but impossible to fully put across.
The point is that you have to live your life - as happily and as normally as possible. You have to include achievement in that oasys of 'normal' if you possibly can, and if you really can, expand the normal to exceptional. If you can't - it's not the end of the world. But if there isn't an alternative world, full of everyday dreams and ambitions, then the killers and abusers win.
Mankind has been raping, murdering, abusing, and generally fucking up the lives of others since before our tails dropped off and the trees didn't seem so homely. You may think you can't do anything about it, and no, you aren't likely to be able to feature in the lives of those involved in any useful way. But the best way for most of us to respond is to try our best to live kindly and compassionately with those around us. Try our best to ensure that those close to us don't fall victim to the same horror.
Don't ignore abuse. Don't tolerate ignorant politicians, churchmen and other community leaders - or even Essex boys and girls . And don't worry about your reaction to hearing a story like that. It just proves you're human.
You may not be able to control the greater picture, but you *can* make a difference to your own little corner of this world - adding to the weight of people who also make differences to their own little corners. The best revenge on all the hurt you see in the world, is to live well. Go well, sweetheart. You matter as much as anyone else.
Reaches out
And pulls a lost soul from harm
While a thousand more go unspoken for
They say what good have you done
By saving just this one
It's like whispering a prayer
In the fury of a storm
And I hear them saying you'll never change things
And no matter what you do it's still the same thing
But it's not the world that I am changing
I do this so this world will know
That it will not change me
(Garth Brooks - The Change)
Your reaction means you care and that is only ever a good thing. Stick with who you are :-)
But Liss, you strike me as someone who doesn't like to sit idly by and I was wondering whether you might find it valuable to get involved in a local charity or some other good cause that tries to help others (human or animal) in some way. Many charities, especially the small ones and those that focus on tricky topics and therefore don't get much financial help, are struggling and would value another volunteer. I mention this because I became involved in a charity a few years ago and I got a tremendous amount from the experience. It also helped me whenever I got upset about the many injustices of the world because I knew that in some tiny, tiny way I was helping to redress the balance. There are all sorts of reasons why this might not be suitable for you, of course, but I felt I ought to mention it anyway.
Love xxx
All I will add, in this quest to live a life that is true to yourself and as rewarding as you deserve, is the obvious. To be inspired, surround yourself with inspirational people. They may not be captains of industry or brain surgeons, they may just have qualities you admire. There will be many (a number have commented above) and they may not even know the impact their demeanour has on your spirits.
It's like the glow of a fire. The closer you stand to it, the warmer you feel.
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