Let Us Be

I spend the majority of my time(whether throughout my life's course, or at work) with people who are not only much older than myself, but with people who have young children, people who have grown children and people who are currently putting (while struggling financially) their kids through college. People who are caring for their aging parents. People who have responsibilities over others that take precedence over their own affairs. People who are worried about affording care for their sick child. People who are worried if they will even wake up the next day. People who have lost both of their parents, people who have lost brothers and sisters, people who have lost sons and daughters. People who are very close to me. People who were coerced into joining a military during wartime because a failing economy has dwindled their options of making a living. People who don't have healthcare and will not have it in the foreseeable future. People who were failed by a lacking and entirely ineffective New York City public school system. People who were never given the second or even first chance they deserved. People who were addicted to drugs and rather than being seen as a victim who needed help they were seen as a criminal who should face incarceration. People who were punished for making one of the very few choices made available to them. People who were forced to leave a city they were born & raised in because they could no longer afford to live there. People who do their best and accept what it gets them.

This must read like a political campaign list of constituents I am trying to reach for votes. I wish it was. These are all people of which I can identify an individual close to me who faces each of those problems. Am I being earnest in hoping that by acknowledging these people in my world that something will come of it? In hoping that someone somewhere will read this and be inspired to think about all of the people in their world, who maybe went unnoticed or forgotten? What good is a persons thoughts? My hope is that it will lead to action. That it will lead to those who were lucky, those like me, who have the resources and ability to do it, to bring their struggle forward so that they are not forgotten or overlooked. 

These people I talk about, they are the source of my immense gratitude for everything I've been given and blessed with. My attitude is deep-rooted in the belief through my experience that everything, EVERYTHING, could be so much worse in my world. 

I'm not rich. I have no formal education.  I own nothing in this world. I have my friends and family and that is it. They are everything to me and everything I do is for them. I believe in the presidency of Barack Obama because I believe that he not only help all of these people in my world, but that he will allow others, including myself, to be more effective in having an actual impact on their lives. 

There's nothing special or glorious about me(or Barack Obama for that matter). We are not crusaders on a righteous path of holiness. We are not great. We are good. Let us be.