let your voice be heard, act, and serve!

One too many times voices have been silenced or ignored. This world is filled with people whose voices and ideas have been lost to injustice and misunderstanding. Fortunately, many people still have a voice and will do almost anything to preserve it. Our world is an endless chain where each voice is a link. Each voice must be loud and clear. We should try to make our voices heard in order to keep our chain links strong. It’s also very important to be able to hear other people’s voices, we are all connected. Even if there’s a disagreement in ideas one must be able to listen in order to understand. We should be more open to any issue that surrounds us or any problem that surround our world.

                I agree with Loeb’s quote, "When we shrink from the world, our souls shrink, too."  We must not enclose ourselves in a bubble of conformity. We should not let our voices and souls fade.  Personally, I’ve experienced many occasions where I was not able to communicate my opinion over a public issue due to a language barrier when I arrived to the United States. I tried and tried to explain myself using a little yellow Spanish-English dictionary as my personal translator. Every attempt became an inevitable failure.  At that time I literary gave up on trying to express my opinion about social issues that presented to me. It wasn’t until I learned English that I finally was able to speak my mind. I had gained back a voice I left back in Mexico. However, I sometimes still feel a sense of conformity that I gained when I couldn’t communicate.

It’s easy to ignore problems that don’t affect us directly. This will never get rid of the problem. One must speak and act if we truly desire to find a solution. A single voice might ignite other people to help others.  I remember a couple of years ago while visiting family in Mexico, I heard a kid who had just beaten cancer share his opinion to anyone who would listen. He was raising money to help sick friends that he met at the hospital where he was treated. I heard him on TV trying to advocate a more efficient health program that would help his friends deal their problems. He would talk to reporters and politicians about his particular story of beating cancer.  For me, the thing that most impacted me was a quote he said when he was interviewed by a reporter from an organization that collects money for disabled children. He said, “Si no vives para servir, no sirves para vivir.” In English, it means, “If you don’t live to serve, you don’t deserve to live.” In English it seems a little hard; hopefully his message is not lost in translation, that’s all I can do with my little yellow dictionary. But trust me when I say that his words truly inspired me to serve others, a simple action or gesture can make someone’s day a little easier. So let your voice be heard, act, and serve!