One Action Can Change a Life | Teen Ink

One Action Can Change a Life

January 8, 2014
By foodlover123 SILVER, Cambridge, Massachusetts
foodlover123 SILVER, Cambridge, Massachusetts
5 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Help.

This word brings so many emotions on faces.

For some, it brings determination.

For some, it brings hope.

For some, it brings desperation.

And for some, it brings exasperation.

But what do we do to express our feelings? Our eyebrows furrow and long whines escape our mouth. Suppose you’re using the internet, and your mom asks you to throw the garbage out, what would you do? You would probably throw it, but after a lot of complaining.
If you didn't do it, your mom would have, but what about the people who don't have anyone to help them? As people, isn't it our duty to help them? Shouldn't we do something rather than just sitting ? Shouldn't we take a step towards helping people out?


According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, there are 633,782 people in USA who are experiencing homelessness in 2013 and as each day passes by, the number increases. 22.1% are children, 13% are the family of veterans and 42.6% are disabled or unable to work.
These people live in any space they find and roam around the streets for help. Do the children have control of their state and condition? No, the same way we don't have the control of our destiny. We could have also been in their place but we’re not. Shouldn't we take advantage of it and help them out?
Veterans fought for America and now their families are suffering. Why? Just because they served and protected America. If they can put their lives on risk to protect us, can't we help their families as an act of appreciation?
Various sources state that more than 867 million people in the world are uneducated, which brings the illiteracy rate up to almost 49%. We have the privileges to study and learn when at this moment there are many people who barely know the alphabets. We take education for granted but so many people are dying to go to school just for one day.Doesn't it become our responsibility to help them?


Some may think that there are so many people who need help so helping one won't make a difference. The solution is in the problem itself.
Lots of people to help.
Lots of paths to choose.
Lots of opportunities to come.
Lots of differences to make.
If we help one person at the least, it will make a huge difference in their life and that will lead to them helping someone out and making a difference in someone else’s life. Even if they don't, it will change their life.It's sort of like a cycle that never stops, you just have to pedal it once and it goes on.


There are so many other people to help the world, why us? If we don't do anything who will? We are the youth of this generation. Like our parents and grandparents’ generation is our role model, we will be the role models of the coming generations. We are the people who will set examples for the future generations.

If we don't do something, hardly anyone will and with time there will be no one helping the one in need.

As humans all of us are brothers, sisters, friends and with that said, we should do whatever we can for them, may it be huge or small. Its like the saying “A friend in need, is a friend indeed.” The tables can turn any day, any second and in that moment you would be desperate for their help.

If you don't treat everyone with respect and equality, doing something huge won't be that incredible.According to the National Institute of Mental Health approximately 15 million Americans are victims of social phobia each year. Not only this, but The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that each year approximately one million people die from suicide which gives one death every 40 seconds. By 2020 the rate of suicidal deaths will increase to one every 20 seconds.

Alan Berman, president of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), stated in an interview in Fox news "But these are not people who want to die. They are just blinded by hopelessness. Ninety percent of people who do get help never go on to die from suicide. The moment passes."

Social phobia and suicides are mainly because of mental stress and social pressure especially nowadays when there are hundreds of victims. And what's the reason for that? Us.

Whether we realize it or not, our one rude remark can push someone closer to suicide. Our one joke can make someone lose their self respect and self-confidence. Our one comment can mentally and physically break someone but our one smiling gesture can bring someone together. If we just remove the blindfold of hopelessness, and bring their confidence back, we can do a lot for them.

Most people don't expect anything from you except respect, specially elders and your peers. Smile to strangers when walking down streets, ask ill people about their health, help a peer if they’re stuck, in short - just make someone smile and it will make their day. Thats not much to do.
If we can do so much we can also save someone.Our improved attitude can change lives.

Going out and doing something sounds a lot to do but its really not. It only takes some effort and devotion...thats all. The only thing that counts is your effort, your hard work, your passion and your honesty. If you have that, you can make a difference. Earlier this month, me and a group of other students from eighth grade, one from seventh and sixth grade met as an elective which was all about community service. All of us worked extremely hard to organize and plan an event in school which would help raise money for someone. Who was that someone, we did not know. Two days prior the event, we were informed that all the money raised would go to a former student fighting from cancer. Believe it or not, all of us worked more than we thought we could and put out a great night.
We did not raise a lot of money that would cure all that students problems but it was enough to do something for him and his family. Few days later we gave the money to him and in that moment all of us bonded in a way I can't describe. He had tears in his eyes at that moment, not because of pain or distress but because of happiness and just knowing that we were the reason of his happiness, was incredible.
I don't know when was the last time he smiled but at that moment it was because of us and our hard work. Seeing hope in his mom eyes because of something all of us did was incredible. The feeling I got after seeing them so happy and giving them hope is beyond words but I surely do know, its better than any other feeling.
My teacher once said “The feeling of giving is much better than the feeling of getting.” When she said this, I did not really understand that but now that I know how it feels to give I would definitely agree with her. Just knowing that I made a difference in someones life is way better than getting any huge gift. The opportunity to give someone is huge itself and all of us have that, so why not make the best out of it.
Why did I do it? I don't know...you wouldn't know either except the fact that you wanted to.
What did I get? The most incredible feeling.
Was it hard? A bit, but it all pays off when i saw that boy and his mom smile.
We don't always have to do something for our benefit, sometimes we just have to do something without over thinking. Just help someone once and the feeling you will get will make you want to do more.

It's not you who needs help right now but what if it was? Have you ever put yourself in their shoes and imagined how life would be then? Probably not. If we don't want to be in their position, just think about how hard life may be for them. Lets help and stand up for the people who struggle to get one meal in a day, for the people who know they might not live long, for the people who get close to death every minute, for the people who don't have anything to smile about and for those who get insulted only because they are different. If we really try we can do it.
Smile.Donate.Ask.Offer.Greet. Do anything with passion for them, and you can help them. Doesn't take much time but changes a lot.

There are so many websites and organizations that help them, by donating $5 you can make a difference. Gather a group of friends and go to a hospital to help them out. Join a group that's helping elderly. Do anything you want that helps them and you can make a difference. Your one step,smile,click can help change lives.

If not us, who? If not now, when?



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