In Service of the Greater Good

Life is not about us and what we want, but about others and what they need.

By Adriana Bendaña
While I sit here, typing, resting, reading, and trying to be a technically normal teenager wondering what to write, I have realized life is not about being normal and selfish in what I do. While many people are out drinking in bars, or watching a football or soccer game, many others are yearning for a bite of clean bread and a cup of warm coffee. As a fifteen-year old, my heart aches when I see how many kids in my country have little to wear, practically nothing to eat, and most likely no safe place to sleep. How I wish I had more opportunities to serve. I wish I could go to the streets and give everything I have to those who live in misery. But how?

So many kids are out on the streets sniffing glue, getting high, and trying to get life over with because their existence seems worthless. And at the same time I see other little children who are so innocent that they still manage to maintain a smile on their face -- keeping themselves alive by pulling out hope from somewhere inside.

I have recognized that with even one lempira, I can help. Just a smile or a “good morning” can make someone's day better. We as humans think that the only way to help is by giving out money, but just the smallest acts of kindness can make a day brighter.

Now, let me give you a more daily experience. I remember sitting in the front seat of the car once, waiting for my dad to get back from the gas station. I saw this young man, and beside him was an older man with a big hunch on his back and sitting on a wheelchair. The guy was opening the door for every person who went into that place. I watched carefully as each person looked past him and said nothing. I held back my tears. The people simply kept walking, and all I could do was wonder why? Why are we so stubborn? So selfish? I mean, we go into a gas station, buy something and then go out for some more fun, but there is no way we can give a single lempira to someone in need?

It is an everyday occurrence. We do not realize that it is our country that suffers when we turn away. I will never be able to change everybody's way of thinking... how they act or even why they act that way. But I can manage to control the way I do things. I want to help my country, and I know that it is not quantity that matters, but what is in my heart. How I help and why I help determine what I ultimately do to help. Life is not about us and what we want, but about others and what they need. (9/19/10) (photo courtesy W. E. Gutman)

Note: The author is a 10th grade student at Academia Los Pinares in Tegucigalpa.