Small Towns Doesn't Mean Small Hearts

[Lemuria Center]

Recently a story came to me about a member in our community that inspired me to write this message.  There are not very many of us, us meaning North Americans, here in Guanajuato, perhaps 2000, about the size of a small town.  Some how in our transition across the border we left something important behind.  Now I have been fortunate enough to live in many small towns, roughly the size we have here, in the US.  There are many blessings that living in these small towns brings, one is that we all know each other, and second, and most important, we all help each other out.  One of the greatest gifts about Americans is their capacity to lend a helping hand.

So you can imagine my surprise when I learned of an American woman who is going through a serious medical issue which left her incapicitated and homeless at one point and only one or two people from this community reached out a helping hand.  What is going on inside our hearts when we can not extend a hand to those in need, no matter what color or culture they are from.  I know that some of you are extending hands to the Mexican people, so why are you excluding your friends and neighbors from your own culture?  It doesn't matter how much money someone has, if someone needs help, they need help.  Many of you will experience life changing illnesses, and when you do you will want to have some support from your fellow Americans, your friends, are you giving yours to others now?  There are many things that we all can do, not matter what our current status is - here are a few suggestions in case you can't think of any.

•  Listen.  Listening to the person as they go through the emotion of the physical changes.
• Drive.  Offer to drive or accompany them to the hospital or doctors appointment.
• Cook.  Cook them a meal or dessert, desserts always cheer people up and do you feel like cooking when you are ill?
• Bed.  Offer a bed to sleep on or in.
• Money.  If you have it, give it.  What you give comes back to you in the end anyway.
• Advocate.  Help them with talking to attorneys, landlords, or doctors to weed through the decisions they have to make.
• Labor.  Clean their house, wash their dishes, whatever, form a group and go clean up their yard, or help them put a roof on their house, whatever it takes so they can live and feel loved.
• Offer.  Offer to help and ask what they need and then figure out a way to provide that for them.
• Share.  Share your time, watch a funny movie together.  Spend time with them, read to them, tell them funny stories or jokes.  Play cards, or a game with them.  Share your profession with them, if you do massage, offer a massage.  If you do animal care, offer to walk their dog.
• Bring.  Bring them flowers, library books, videos. Bring them things from someone else.  Bring them groceries, or prescriptions.

We all have the capacity to be great human beings.  My wish is that we remember our hearts and come from a place of love FOR ALL.  Just be a good person and extend a hand.  It is really that simple. ~ Lorel