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Neighbourhood Forum

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Figuring out what you believe in

By: Stephanie Staples

Posted: 12/26/2012 4:05 PM | Comments: 0

A Facebook friend noted that I did not post anything about the tragic and senseless massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. He knows I’m not a frequent newspaper reader and wondered if this atrocity had slipped by me.


My answer was it did not. Although I only skim the newspaper, you can be sure that news of this magnitude does not fly under my radar. I read about it and I have accepted the fact that my head (as well as many other peoples) is just not built to process information of this sort.


No rhyme or reason will ever make sense of this or most of the other horrific things that happen in this world.  


I remember as  a child finding an obituary of a baby in the newspaper and sobbing for hours about this baby I did not know. I remember feeling so confused inside as to why this beautiful little baby would be taken away. I remember my parents trying to console me to no avail.

 
I had a tender and sensitive heart then and thankfully I still do. I cannot watch hateful, violent movies. Friends and family tease me that I can only watch movies with Disney in the title. I’m OK with that and I am done with apologizing for it.


If you are the same way, don’t despair.  Here are some things those of us with tender hearts can do to cope:


• acknowledge that we are a special breed and the world needs people like us, too
• send out silent vibes and/or prayers of love and peace and healing to those in need
• do something purposeful, intentional and deliberate to show love in the world as a tribute to those hurting souls
• unapologetically cry as needed


Bad things will happen, no matter how good we are. Succumbing to the hate, reading more and more details will eat away at our soul and not help the situation anyway. I am not advising a Pollyanna or head-in-the-sand approach, but I am suggesting you pay attention to how your heart responds to things.


These tragedies, although too common, are rare and not reflective of society in general.
Most people are good. Most people want to do good.


I believe that.
I have to believe that.
What do you believe?


Stephanie Staples is a St. Vital-based motivational speaker and the author of When Enlightening Strikes – Creating a Mindset for Uncommon Success. You can find more resources for life enrichment at www.YourLifeUnlimited.ca.
Neighbourhood Forum is a readers’ column. If you live in The Lance area and would like to contribute to this column, contact jim.timlick@canstarnews.com.

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