2010 could not have started off more devastatingly: a natural disaster took well over a hundred thousand lives in Haiti, one of my good friends was brutally attacked in front of her apartment in Brooklyn, and my mother was diagnosed with cancer. In times like these, it is almost impossible not to notice the massive shift in everyone’s attitude; sworn enemies bury grudges they have held for years, the amount of donations made to charities increases dramatically, and people become generally more compassionate towards one another. While this charitable spirit is certainly a more than welcome change, I cannot help but be distraught that people seem to ban together only when things are going wrong.
I have often been plagued by the thought, “what can I do”? As a college student, I cannot donate large amounts of money that I do not have, nor can I do much to implement social change. But just because I cannot change everything, does not mean that I can change nothing. I may be just one person, but my actions have far-reaching effects. The choices I make affect not only my friends and family, but also my classmates, my co-workers, and even the people I encounter briefly on the street. So what I can do is rather simple—follow the principal that is common to almost every ethical system in the world, The Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have done unto you; “love your neighbor as yourself”; what goes around, comes around.
I know this sounds corny, but you really can make a big difference by doing the smallest things like holding the door for someone, offering to help someone who is lost, or even by taking a second to realize that you are part of something bigger than yourself and that your actions have consequences.
I know that this is something that everyone learned back in elementary school, but I have come to realize that somewhere along the way I have forgotten it. I can think of plenty of moments in my life that I am not too proud of; times that I hurt someone purposefully or failed to help someone when I easily could have done so. I can also remember times when my already foul mood has been made worse by seemingly small things that other people said or did to me.
It is so easy to be oblivious to how we project ourselves and how we treat others, but these things are also the easiest to change, and that is where I am choosing to start. By affecting change locally, I am beginning my commitment to influence the world globally.
For more writing by Emily Stern, go to adventuresofanavidreader.blogspot.com
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