Notes on Feeling Helpless

"Cherub Angels" by Edwin Tuts

The very idea that anyone can hurt a child is beyond fathomable to me – yet I spent a career listening to unspeakable horrors inflicted on children and often the horrors they committed on others.  Everyone has a story.  If you get to know the “story” you can begin to understand the person – sometimes it’s not easy.  I learned to do it with a poker face most of the time.  What I gained from a job I loved was a broader vision of the world, an enormous sense of patience I didn’t always have when my own children were young, and a defiantly fierce will to protect my family and anyone who I perceive as having a weak moment and in need of protection.

I am a firm believer in RAOK (Random Acts of Kindness).  We used to endorse it to the fullest where I worked.  There was many a time we used random acts of kindness for the therapeutic value it provided to person who accomplished the good deed.  It is just plain empowering, a way of taking some control back when you feel powerless.  Don’t we all feel a little powerless after the carnage at Sandy Hook? Participating in a random act of kindness is a way of feeling you are contributing to someone else’s life and that helps to make you feel better about yourself.

Tonight I was surfing the Internet and ran across an article about Ann Curry of NBC.  She has made a bold suggestion and one so dear to my heart.  What if to honor the Sandy Hook angels everyone partook of enacting on their own crusade of random acts of kindness.  What would happen if everyone did only one?  What if your ONE was THEE one who kept someone from falling over the edge?  I know how this feels.  Ann is right and it is selfish because it feels good to do it…but that isn’t a problem.  It’s an asset to both parties involved in the transaction.

I’m down with it Ann.  I can do it – I think I can do 26 of them. You can read about Ann Curry’s post HERE (just click).  It's best if you hear it from her.  She explains it much better than I do.