A Helping Hand

We have but one chance to get it right. One very small window during which any one of us is here, present, alive...and, thus, able to make a "difference." The time any one of us is here on this Earth is so small in comparison to the whole existence of this celestial body, it barely warrants a mention. It is, however, our time.

During this time we have choices to make, wishes to fulfill, desires upon which to act or not. What makes us choose the downhill roads, the smooth sailing seas, the paths of least resistance? On these too-traveled trips, only rarely do we find the journeys that reward us, that fulfill us, that transform us.

Do you suppose that anyone ever lies in their death bed, reflecting on their life, wishing that they had done less to help others, or full of regret from doing too many unselfish acts, or insane with guilt over the many good deeds they performed over their years?

Yesterday a very important person in my life found herself in a horrible, frightening, dangerous situation, one in which she could only yell and scream and hope for another to lend a hand, to risk his or her own well-being only for the well-being of someone else. In such a helpless situation, one realizes how we are each dependent, in one form or another, on others in our lives...friends, loved-ones, and strangers alike.

On this day, though, sadly, her cries went unnoticed, unattended, unanswered. Was the neighborhood street upon which she screamed deserted? Was each house in that neighborhood empty, unoccupied, without life? Unlikely. What is likely, and, to be most accurate, the truth, is this: there was no incentive for anyone to provide her with the assistance she so desperately needed, at least no incentive beyond the goodness one should feel in coming to the aide of another, a stranger. But, there was nothing beyond this in it for those who may have heard her screams, who may have seen her situation. Faced with a choice to act selflessly or sit easily, those with the opportunity to choose chose the latter.

Fortunately, the worst did not happen. This dear person who innocently found herself in a very unwelcome predicament was spared. Unfortunately, what spared her was not the goodness of another. On this day, there was no such goodness.

I'm not sure what it is in too many of us that makes it possible, even easy, to turn away from someone in dire need. What part of us is made to think only of ourselves, or, at best, those close to us? Why does our compassion fall short? What quiets our voice? How is our physical strength weakened? Why do each of these virtues we are bestowed too often not extend themselves indiscriminately?

I offer no answers to these questions. Perhaps, in just asking the questions, something good will come. Perhaps those who read them, who ponder them, will dissect them, absorb them, and refute them through their future actions. If only it could be that simple. If only we could change our ways by just having someone ask more of us, expect more from us, depend on us the next time someone is in need.

It is a noble thing to help a fellow human being who is in great need.

Extend your hand to someone who has fallen. Listen and respond to a cry for help. Risk yourself to save another.

Years from now, lying on your death bed, you will not regret that you did.