the land of Opportunity!

opportunity: noun; a favorable set of circumstances or a good chance for advancement or progress (Merriam/Webster dictionary).

If you watch the commercials on TV, you will see that many of them make use of this word. It's a selling ploy, in that if you don't get it now, you may never have the chance to do it again. It's as if cars, clothes and cheap gadgets will go out of style! Never mind that, according to PT Barnum, "a sucker is born every minute." There will always be Opportunity!

If this is the case, then with the advent of a New Year coming up in just a couple of days, we have another 366 days, the year 2012 being a Leap Year, to bring about change in our world. We make those resolutions to lose weight, get that car, change that job, buy that house, have that baby. But do you also add to that list, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, help the one who needs help, give the compliment so desperately needed, look after the child who needs a mentor, step out of your comfort zone to make another happy? Is that on your to-do list?

WHY NOT?

Why would you feel as though it's "someone else's" responsibility? Why not do it yourself...and don't wait until December to do it, when feel-good charities are begging for your year-end dollars so that you can use it as a tax write off! That, to me, is cheating and so unfair! You are hungry in January, in February, you need a house to live in all the time, you need ....well, everything...why would you deny it to someone else? When have you wished someone could just understand you in your place? No judging, no "this is how I would fix it" comments, just LISTEN? Don't you feel others need that, too? How about the overworked young mom who may like a break from her kids? Wouldn't it be nice if you could take those kids for a couple of hours so she can rest? It's little stuff like that...that is what we all need!

I have always said, "walk in my shoes for a day, see what I go through." We should all be so cognizant. To feel empathy for another. Put yourself in the shoes of a beggar, an alcoholic, someone who has just lost their job, who has been told they have cancer...now..what would you want for someone to do for YOU, being in that position? Exactly! So now, live out that Golden Rule...do unto others...as you would have them do unto you....

You want peace? Then work for justice.