Reflections on the Sandy Hook Tragedy ---words cannot describe what emotions ran through me as I heard the horrid news. How could somebody do this-is what ran through my mind? those poor kids, and those teachers - how scary it must have been for anyone at that scene. I felt goosebumps on my skin - and even though silence and prayer was the only thing i felt i could do at that time, deep inside me there was a push, a pull to do something more.
My son who is five could have been in that school. Everyday I drop him off, and I pray that he is okay in school and is given the strength to face whatever life puts in front of him, but not once did i imagine that there is a strong possibility that he too could have been one of those children - and that is a hard thing to digest. A very difficult thing to digest. So it got me thinking--what do we do with our children? How do we teach our children to still "BELIEVE" and be realistic about life. There are so many things that we as parents in this day and age have to do that our parents may or may not have done. For example - sexual abuse - how many of our parents talked to us about "GOOD TOUCH/BAD TOUCH?" Today, as a parent, i am forced to at a very young age to teach my son about that, to teach him how to yell for "HELP" if there are strangers out there and to be honest about social issues without instilling a sense of fear in him.
Do we then let them lose their innocence at such a young age - they say kids grow up too fast - they know so much more now than they did back then -but part of it is because of technology, because of the media, because of an EVENT like this or 9/11 or hurricane sandy that will make each one of us in our own way wake up and say we need to find a way to take care of our kids and find a way to protect them in some way. It's our way of feeling in control and trying to make sense of a senseless world. The reality is that all this is around us, but we still can make them BELIEVE.
So today's post is not so much about journaling, but it is about us as humans - to not take each day for granted - The Hindu scriptures always tell us again and again that this human birth has been given to us for a special purpose- we need to make use of that purpose, to realize our true purpose on earth and how we can contribute to making it a better place - not working to destroy it....AND that when tragedies like this happen, it is a call to the human spirit - it is almost like a soul crying out -and as a society i feel that we are crying out for help -
So while yes - there needs to be better systemic changes in our society - as individuals we need to be conscious of our thoughts, our behaviors, our patterns - if each one of us worked on that - collectively think about how much of an impact we can make. Our thoughts need to be positive - we need to send that positive energy out - because as I see it - there will be more tragedies - this is just one of them -don't get me wrong - it was horrific- but so was columbine, so was arizona. -----and if we don't begin with our selves now, as a society things will continue to deteriorate. They say kindness spreads - love spreads- smiles spreads - the power of love can change people - why not focus on those things instead - the ripple effects will be enormous.
lets' start with our children - lets' start with our selves -
They say affirmations and the power of positive self talk works wonders - lets do that for ourselves as we wake up in the morning - choose one affirmation - for the day - and repeat it to yourself throughout the day - write about that and slowly you will see small changes in your lives.
Every day we have a choice no matter how bad our situation is - to be happy - lets choose that today regardless of our circumstance and lets spread that to those around us.
Very beautifully written, and very true...thanks
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