Empathy or Apathy.

“Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

Lesson for the day. There's no worse feeling than that of complete insignificance. It may be YOUR life, but remember that you live it in the company of, and in collaboration with everyone around you. The world does not revolve around one person, but that same person can have a PROFOUND affect on the world around them and beyond. Live YOUR life, by all means, with no apologies for being who you are. JUST PLEASE REMEMBER, that YOUR personal actions, or lack thereof, reflects WHO YOU ARE. And, although this analogy has been done to death, it still applies here. A drop of water within a still pond creates a ripple effect that extends to the ponds' outer banks. You might not be able to see the effect, but it is there. The current keeps its movement. You are not immune to cause and effect.

Even comments that you speak for yourself has an effect on everyone around you. Phrases like, "F*ck My Life" or "I hate today" has NO productive value. Now I am NOBODY'S judge. I am guilty of saying "I hate today," - OFTEN, a lot more than I would like to admit. As a voice of experience, I can tell you that this only brings my attitude further down, and more often than not, kills my day completely. It's like saying "F*ck You" to God, throwing the gift of another day back with disdain. Looking at it from a completely agnostic standpoint, let's say you are having THE DAY from hell. Your attitude sucks, and it wears all over your person. Whether you intend it or not you are putting a piss-poor vibe out to everyone in your company. There will be a REACTION to your action, except that, NOW you are getting it back, multiplied by ALL of NUMBER people you affected! You didn't MEAN to, but BAM! Your whole damn week is dangerously close to getting FLUSHED!

Call it Karma, if that's your thing. Point is, You get BACK what you GIVE OUT.

On that same token, words UNSPOKEN or actions NOT TAKEN out of apathetic disregard (it's not my problem, or, I'll get to them/it later,) can SCAR every bit as much as disparagement. The emotional fallout is invisibility, unimportance, resentment, returned apathy, vindictive spite, attention sought by acting out... As HURTFUL as the words sent into the Universe out of anger, hurt, fear or frustration, also hurtful are effect of an uncaring heart. At least we can blame emotional impulse for the former. Apathy takes forethought, the end of resolve, GIVING UP.

Of course, in certain scenarios, walking away might be the best thing if no productive discourse can be achieved. Some people NEED drama. Some LIKE TO ARGUE. Period. In those cases, you can either return fire, guide them to the nearest Community Theater or Law School (I can recommend a GREAT Law school for anyone interested.) or release their "grip" on you and move on, head held high.But even THOSE people need attention, affection, love, understanding... HELP. To shut off one's heart, To turn yourself cold to the love in the world, is the true sin. The true goal is to treat others as you wish to be treated. And Treat YOURSELF and you would wish others would treat YOU.

Final thought:

There are some really DUMB Apps on FB. I have so many that I often forget they are there. One of those Apps is "On this day of your life, God wants you to know." I rarely look at it anymore. Then yesterday morning, as I was finishing up this entry, I received this message in my notifications. "On this day of your life, Danielle, we believe God wants you to know ... that what you say and what you do matters. When you show kindness to others, your words and actions have a positive ripple effect which spreads out to affect many people. The same thing happens when you are impatient, intolerant or indifferent to others. What kind of effect do you want to have?" 

Damn.