Support

When I was growing up there was not much enthusiasm to help get involved in our community. There was a lot of complaining but never any action. In fact, I was encouraged to not walk around in my neighborhood. This is for various reasons but for the most part I was pretty isolated. I remember back in high school when my teacher spoke of community service I just imagined soup lines and picking up trash in the heat. My family, my support was never involved in community projects so I did not know how to get involved. I was always taught to take care of myself and my family. I learned that blood was thicker than water. I developed a sort of selfish attitude towards people. However, I was also taught to have compassion for other who are less fortunate than myself. I was never taught to get involved nor was I encouraged to be either. The support was not there.



However, when I joined college and was forced with great motivation to become involved in my community. It was one of the key defining moments in my life that makes me who I am today, and what I aspired to be many years ago. I never thought that I had any thing to offer in my community other than my labor with my hands. However, now I realize that with my charisma I can persuade people to become active. I can make people look at themselves in a way they never did before and question themselves. The hardest thing is getting stubborn people to stop being so individualistic and start thinking community. We are all in this together whether you want to believe it or not. It is up to individuals to support those who cannot support themselves properly, and to train those who do not know how. So, they can support themselves.

This has been a Lewis Robinson reflection on peoples unwillingness to "get involved"