I grew up in the country, seeing my grandparents making magic with one salary of twenty-five dollars per month. My grandfather learned how to handle it doing some additional jobs like painting the town’s houses, cutting yards, and selling bottles of milk from our own cows. Everything was limited back then. Everything from fruits, to vegetables, and the meat we ate came from our yard. We lived simply but happy. Those were the good times when neighbors knew the meaning of that word. We were all one in the big community.
Yesterday I went to pump some gas early in the morning. Gas stations were crowded with desperate people trying to fill their tanks for the week at the cheapest price possible. I finally got my gas and was ready to come back home when I heard the loud scream of a lady coming out of her car thinking that I was trying to take her spot when I was really trying to find my way out of there. It took me a couple of minutes to calm her down and explain what I was really trying to do. Then I went back in time.
I moved to Georgia eleven years ago. Over the years, I have learned to love this state where I have found peace and a nice and quiet little town that happens to remind me the one I grew up in. But, even in this small town the signs of panic and discomfort are starting to show, unfortunately bringing out the worst of human condition.
This country and its people, including myself, have been used to having it all in such abundance that it has been wasted many times. Never before did the American people realize that everything in life has a limit, that tomorrow things could change drastically, and that, in the end, all we have left is us. Instead of turning against each other trying to grab for one what belongs to everyone, we should be thinking about coming together and go back to those times when less was better and the common good of all was the our main goal. Let’s think about the people in far away countries that live with far less resources and seem to be able to find that balanced life just the same way my grandfather use to do.
Wise Native Americans like the Hopi used to say that in time everything would go back to its origins, like a circle that, ones fulfill, returns to beginning of time. This time when humans all around the globe would have the choice to either join the human race as one or drown in the emptiness of destruction. What would be our preferred choice?
Hopefully I will not encounter any more ladies like the one this morning or listen to the news just to find out how desperate people can become in times of panic. Hopefully, many good stories will come out these times that many call crises and I’d rather name wonderful times of transformation.
