I can be YouTube cool too..

Other people can open our eyes and make us realize our previous ignorance. Even if we're fine, the world is still suffering and you can be part of the solution. We can be one more good thing to counteract all of the evil and suffering that we know exists. Sometimes we feel content with the world around us but as we involve ourselves more in this society we live in, we realize there is more than the little bubble we float through life in. Sometimes it's quite shocking to hear something you wouldn't expect to hear out of peoples mouths. Things we couldn't imagine happening to us or sometimes, even the people who were affected. I've seen hope come out of other peoples success stories. Like AA and self help groups, people gain hope when they've heard from someone else who once wore the same shoes. Even if "nothing bad" had ever happened to us, people's stories still make us realize that it's happening to somebody and that we could be the one that pulls them through their trial.

I can't quite grasp how one story in my life could summarize me as a person.. It just doesn't make sense. Someone referenced to Shrek in a previous blog and how he was talking to Donkey about onion layers and relating them to Ogres. Well, that's how life is; one piece at a time. Thousands and thousands of everyday events, occurrences, people and encounters shape me. I didn't just go to a swap meet one day and buy a soul... Though, I have certainly been influenced by my upbringing. I have made conscious decisions in my life of the kind of person I would be and the kind of person I couldn't. It seems a little disheartening to say that someone I care about in my life would also be an example to me of someone I wouldn't want to be, but that's part of my life. I still care about some of these "bad examples" in my life but I don't let them influence me. I've already decided. I grew up, I would consider, in a community within a community. I've grown up knowing that somebody would always be there to help for anything. Throughout my life I can recall many occurrences where I would go with my mom and babysit when parents had to work or just needed time to themselves. Someone from church was always there to help. When my mother was sick for a while and had to be hospitalized, I was still surprised but sort of relieved when every night for at least a week there was dinner delivered to us. We didn't even ask. They just knew we would appreciate it. These things have strengthened my faith on helping those who need it. Through my church, I've always been pushed towards being more involved. I've been to many park/ street cleanups without realizing anything out of the ordinary, like that normal people didn't go clean parks just because. I think my mindset has been sort of molded like that. If someone asks me to do something, I'll try and do it even if I really don't want to because I try not to seem too selfish. Often I don't even realize that I have a choice in the matter, I'm just go "okay...". Sometimes it scares me to death but it really helps when I have guidance. (I'm going to stop now. I feel like I'm just blogging blogging and not focusing)