I am generally a happy person. But not every day. We all have good days and bad days, and we generally accept that it’s ok.
I never tell myself “life is good” because if it is not good for others, then it is not good for me. I have learned how to be happy in my own life while continuing to help others, especially when so many others are unhappy. Helping others and being a presence in their lives, even for a minute, makes me happy. You never know when the next minute may be their breaking point. And I am rewarded knowing that for a brief period I possibly extended the feeling of hope, or that everything will be ok for them. I help others as often as I can because I believe we are not well until all of us are well. Even if this doesn’t get realized in my lifetime, I won’t stop trying. These photos that I took tonight were sobering. I was on the ferry from Manhattan returning to Staten Island after work, taking photos as usual, when the NYPD and DOT Ferry workers came to the back of the ferry where I was. They were looking at the other ferry boat passing by. And then they would look back at the water behind the boat. After a while they stopped looking down into the water. You can imagine what happened. And then I asked a DOT worker what happened. He confirmed it. He also added that the jumper probably did not survive. All I could think about was how just a few minutes before this everything was different. I was generally feeling happy.
But after that happened, I couldn’t think straight. And that was ok. I just stood there. It was a sobering image.
Be thoughtful to others, even strangers. You don’t know what they are going through. Be friendly. Be kind. Don’t be mean. Stop trying to be the best… the strongest… the richest… especially at the risk of hurting others. We know there are people who won’t do this and don’t care. Don’t be that person. Be the opposite of that person and restore the balance.
None of us are well until all of us are well.
