It’s a shame that Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti had to remind us that in tough times, we are ALL in this together!
The other day I heard a story about how someone voluntarily helped out a friend who was in a bad financial position. They didn’t do it because the person just got out of a hurricane. They didn’t do it because the person just survived an earthquake. They did it because their friend was in need and they knew that friend would not ask for help. They helped simply because “we are ALL in this together”.
In the early months of opening my own law firm, I worked with an attorney and a frat brother, Attorney Larry Hardaway, who offered me the opportunity to have my own office and office space with NO over head. He didn’t ask me if I needed it. He didn’t charge me some reduced rate or require that I do extra labor. In his words, “When I went out on my own, another attorney and fraternity brother opened his doors to me. I’m just returning the favor.” Those words from a man who had been practicing 30 years really rang out. He did this because, quite simply, “we are ALL in this together.”.
In my life time, I’ve seen a few things that made me MARVEL at how quickly the world can come together. I was there for the original “WE ARE THE WORLD” and “FARMAID”. I was there for Hurricane Andrew, Hurricane Bertha / Fran, and Hurricane Katrina. I remember the devastation in Asia due to the Tsunami and the Earthquake. And now, HAITI! The one thing that continues to marvel me is that it doesn’t matter our political affiliations, our political parties, our religious beliefs, or our moral values. Once a natural disaster occurs, we forget ALL that and pull together and get it right.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, right now. We’re going through a natural disaster on our own soil. The time for ‘flipping houses’ has been replaced ‘foreclosures and quick sales’. The time for big investments have been replaced by Enron and Bernie Madoff. Big Business is being replaced by Bailouts. We are STRUGGLING!! However, we DON’T have to struggle ALONE!!
So many times people say “Misery LOVES company”. The idea is that miserable people want to bring others down. Trust me, that’s not entirely true. Some people want to know that others share in their misery and can give them comfort in knowing that they are NOT alone. In the midst of misery, the MIND can create all kinds of ideas to thrive and survive.
I’m not saying that that we shouldn’t help each other during a natural disaster. As a whole, we all instinctively reach out to each other when a devastating situation occurs. It goes without saying. However, we are in the midst of a serious financial and domestic crisis. We are NOT going to get through it by waiting for a government hand out. We are NOT going to get through it by waiting on a stimulus check. We are NOT going to get through it by blaming those who caused the problems or by blaming those who are not fixing it fast enough.
We are going to fix it because we realize that we are ALL in this together. Put it like this! Let’s say you got two people. One person is thirsty but only has a loaf of bread. The other person is hunger but only has a six pack of soda. Well, if the two people get together, they won’t be hungry or thirsty. Problem solved. Let’s do it together!
Comments
Leave a Reply