It's 2006 and Cristina and I are walking towards Cuyalí on an overcast day in Honduras. Heavy rains over the past several days have caused a creek to crest its bank and flood the local road. We are expected in the village and need to somehow traverse the flooded waters. I attempt to leap from one rock to the next but land in about a foot of water. Cristina watches safely from a rock, contemplating her next move.
"Hola!" Approaching Cristina from behind, barefoot and wading through the river, is a woman. She is about 50 years old, shorter than five feet tall, and maybe weighs 100 pounds. She greets us with a smile. Eyeing the river, she says nothing, bends over at the waist, taps her lower back, and says "Vamanos!" (let's go). She is the face of poverty, dressed only in a faded green dress and carrying her tattered flip flops. She is nonetheless ready, in this moment, to risk her own health and wellbeing to carry Cristina safely across.
Eight years later, I am sitting at my computer. There are bills laid out before me. I'm reading a sobering article about the financial woes of many Americans. The article highlights the unemployment rate, the skyrocketing cost of college, and the daunting task of saving for retirement without assurance of social security or a pension. It's depressing, and I'm overwhelmed by all of it. At this moment, I'm contemplating preservation mode. I'm fighting that feeling that, in a world with so many unknowns, it's time to look out for me and my family. It's time to use our skills and resources to take care of ourselves.
I, admittedly and not proudly, find myself in this state of mind far too frequently. As a husband and father of two, I often worry about our future. How can I make time to be of service to others when I'm responsible for the lives of those under my roof? Why should I take time to help a neighbor, volunteer in my community, or lend a hand when my time, energy, and resources could be used preserving my own wellbeing. The woman from Honduras, standing in the flooding waters, is the last thing on my mind.
This past Sunday, on a beautiful sunny day, I am listening to a friend speak. I should say that I am only half listening, wrapped up in my own thoughts of the tasks of the day ahead. Then, I hear him speak these words, and I'm ashamed. "In today's society, we think more of me than we; of preserving our own lives instead of sacrificing them for the greater cause." He proceeds to relay the story of Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, a 24 year-old veteran of the war in Afghanistan, who threw himself in front of a grenade blast in order to save his fellow soldier. Cpl. Carpenter lost his eye, much of his jaw, and nearly his life. Self-preservation was the last thing on his mind that day.
Today, I smile remembering the woman in Cuyalí, bent over at the waist, ready and willing to do whatever it took to help her fellow man. She, along with those like Cpl. Carpenter, are my heroes, the ones who view life as an opportunity to serve others, even at the risk of their own wellbeing. They are a reminder that we are all called upon to fight that urge to preserve and to view each day, each moment as an opportunity to contribute to the greater cause. Imagine a world where everyone approached life like that.
Eight years later, I am sitting at my computer. There are bills laid out before me. I'm reading a sobering article about the financial woes of many Americans. The article highlights the unemployment rate, the skyrocketing cost of college, and the daunting task of saving for retirement without assurance of social security or a pension. It's depressing, and I'm overwhelmed by all of it. At this moment, I'm contemplating preservation mode. I'm fighting that feeling that, in a world with so many unknowns, it's time to look out for me and my family. It's time to use our skills and resources to take care of ourselves.
I, admittedly and not proudly, find myself in this state of mind far too frequently. As a husband and father of two, I often worry about our future. How can I make time to be of service to others when I'm responsible for the lives of those under my roof? Why should I take time to help a neighbor, volunteer in my community, or lend a hand when my time, energy, and resources could be used preserving my own wellbeing. The woman from Honduras, standing in the flooding waters, is the last thing on my mind.
This past Sunday, on a beautiful sunny day, I am listening to a friend speak. I should say that I am only half listening, wrapped up in my own thoughts of the tasks of the day ahead. Then, I hear him speak these words, and I'm ashamed. "In today's society, we think more of me than we; of preserving our own lives instead of sacrificing them for the greater cause." He proceeds to relay the story of Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, a 24 year-old veteran of the war in Afghanistan, who threw himself in front of a grenade blast in order to save his fellow soldier. Cpl. Carpenter lost his eye, much of his jaw, and nearly his life. Self-preservation was the last thing on his mind that day.
Today, I smile remembering the woman in Cuyalí, bent over at the waist, ready and willing to do whatever it took to help her fellow man. She, along with those like Cpl. Carpenter, are my heroes, the ones who view life as an opportunity to serve others, even at the risk of their own wellbeing. They are a reminder that we are all called upon to fight that urge to preserve and to view each day, each moment as an opportunity to contribute to the greater cause. Imagine a world where everyone approached life like that.
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