Millions of Americans and people throughout the world are in need of your compassion NOW.
Oprah Winfrey and Lisa Ling Broke My Heart
A few days ago I took just a moment away from my computer to watch something that caught my attention on the television while I walked from the coffee pot to my desk. It was an Oprah Winfrey episode with special guest Lisa Ling visiting with people who lost everything they had and were living in tent cities. It truly took my breath away and I sobbed through the whole thing.
The ways that this episode of Oprah affected me changed my life. The impact I felt was so profound that I have not been able to get it out of my mind since. She was talking about people who have lost everything that they worked so hard for in life, and sadly, that even includes friendships. So many of the newly homeless and people in despair lose touch with friends, and even family. They no longer have an email address, a cell phone, or a mailing address. They have been crushed. Their spirits have often been broken, or at least very markedly bent.
How Oprah Affected Me
After watching the episode, I had an awakening of my own spirit. It reminded me of things that we all try hard to forget, and hard to avoid. I cried as I saw a man talk about how it touched him to go and clean out foreclosed homes and throw out a little baby doll and know that it was probably some little girl’s best friend. At the same time, he had 15 homes per day to clean out, often with the majority of people’s worldly possessions left behind. It all had to go to the dumpster, regardless of the value. Even the organizations like the Salvation Army could not take things, because they had run out of room.
This all got so hard for me that I wondered what this world will look like if it all continues at this rate. Will we all live in tent cities while our vacant homes rot away in the legal possession of banks that are of proportionally little value? If this is how it is going to go, I simply cannot understand the world today.
It Could Happen To Anybody!
Financial hardship can hit anybody. We can believe we are immune, but what happened to these people can happen with little notice. It is frightening, it is humbling, and depending on how one deals with it, the hardship will either polish a person brighter than ever or grind them and bring deep despair.
The psychological affects are profound. In hard times, it is common that people will tuck themselves into a shell of solitude and feel like everybody can see their shame. It is described as a feeling of being marked with a big symbol to show that you are beneath others around you. There becomes a huge feeling that you do not want to burden friends. It gets to a point where it is the emotional equivalent of the injured animal that wonders off in the woods to die. In a way, it is kind of like dying. Things change profoundly in the heart and spirit of those facing these hardships. Nobody wants to burden their friends. At the same time, it is shocking just how true it is to real friends that it is not a burden at all. Most people will want to help in whatever way they can … even if it just a hug. Perhaps not surprising, a hug can actually go a long way to help a friend.
Care About Those Around You
If you know somebody who lost their job, or who may be facing hardship like Oprah has described, reach out to them. Let them know that you care. What lies ahead is very uncertain, but one thing is clear. We must all come together and care for each other.
