How do you treat people that you come in contact with every day? Are you nice to them? Do you treat them like how you would want someone to treat you?
I think it is important for you to realize that even though we can be distances apart from everyone within the world, in many ways we all impact one another. It doesn't matter if one person is white or black, or if a person is rich or poor. We should treat each other with kindness and like we would want to be treated.
The world is quite an enormous place. I cannot describe to you as to how fascinated I am by all of the many countries, people, and cultures that exist within the world. There are so many unnoticed people and places within the world that I don't even know if it is possible to know them all.
Still, even in this realization, I think it is important for us to remember how connected we each are to one another.
Across oceans and across continents, many natural disasters and all types of situations that happen within America still impact other countries... situations that happen in Norway, Guatemala, South Africa, Brazil, Greece, and more still impact America. All of the global situations seem to connect and impact everyone.
My journey in South Africa and my interactions with the people there have helped me to realize this more. I gained a much deeper appreciation for the human connection and experience while there. My relationships with people there and hearing their perceptions of situations within the world have forever changed the person that I have become.
In my opinion, when we choose to act like what happens in one country doesn't impact us, we are being ignorant. We all are connected and we each impact each other's lives with every action and every word that we say. This is even truer now, because globalization is exponentially increasing and changing the landscape of the world. Therefore, it is now even more pivotal that we remember that we are each connected and can help each other.
South Africa has awakened me to how important it is for human beings to continue to help each other and never lose sight of treating each other as we would want to be treated. I know this is a concept that I am continuously working on and many countries are working on, but it must be made known how important it is.
I guess the one moment this hit me was when I was staying with families while in South Africa. The families had never met me before in their life, but yet, they were so utterly kind to me. They treated me as if I was apart of their family.
One mom within one home even told me that to her I was a part of her family... This one moment made me want to cry. I realized the importance of treating people like you would want to be treated, and treating people like how you would want your family to be treated. It truly touched my heart and I have nothing, but wonderful memories about my experience in South Africa.
The lesson of the day: My experience in South Africa has prompted me to tell you to not take each day of life for granted. Treat people kind and like you would want to be treated. We are all connected in some form and it's important that we remember how we all can impact each other with each step of our journeys.