A good place to start is with a glimpse back on times of depression and doomed circumstances and feelings of lost hope. No need to go into details, but yes, there have been those times in my life. I haven’t been to those places in a while, but I recall them clearly.

Then, there is a recent event in my life where a member of my extended family attempted suicide. This subject, in itself, is a separate discussion, but the point is, it demonstrates the hopelessness that some people feel.

I understand that these “down times” and morose feelings are real for me and others, but I also see these dark feelings as deceptive. I see the mind as deceiving us into forgetting that we don’t have long to live while we are here! The reality is, compared to all of time, our life here is a mere finger-snap!

I see the mind as deceiving us into forgetting the gratitude we should have for things like our general health, our eyesight and hearing, our ability to breath without labor, our lack of physical pain, our capacity to walk and talk, a fully functioning brain that is not damaged, the lack of events like disease, our children being with us, the freedoms that we enjoy. These things will no longer be taken for granted if they are taken away from us.

And I say to myself, “I will not be deceived anymore. I am one of the luckiest people in the world!”

Then, I look around me and I notice people in need…people who cannot read…people who are addicted or mentally handicapped…people who are hungry..children who just need a little attention to feel like he or she is important…special needs children who are basically ignored…elderly people who are wretchedly lonely.

And I wonder how I could be so over-focused on myself for long periods without recognizing these other events and conditions. I notice that life is a bit tricky. I must be selfish and unselfish at the same time. How can this be so?

It goes something like this: I must be selfish in the areas of meeting my own needs—basic safety, health, food, and shelter, love around me, and getting the respect I deserve from others. Past that, what’s the point of doing much of anything else except helping others obtain their basic needs too?

Now it’s time to do something about it. Instead of seeking more “stuff” or trying to “enhance” my own self in some way, it’s time to stop and say, I am enough; I have enough; I feel good enough. Time to do something for somebody else. So today, I am ordering binders for kids in need at the local high school. Hey, it may not save the world, but at least it is a step in the right direction.