Stepping up to Deliver Good

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When asked by a moderator at a recent meeting if bad circumstances brings out the best in people, there was an overwhelming agreement in the room that when ordinary people are called to help, extraordinary things happen.

 

9-11. Sandy. Natural disasters or major tragedies. Beyond the brave first responders and military personnel, it's the rank-and-file among us who often step up and come together to assist.

 

Where does this courage come from? Where does this compassion reside?  And is it starkly more visible because there's a problem or issue, or is always under the surface, ready for us to pay it forward in a moment's notice?

 

There is a bible passage in Ecclesiastes that depending on the researched website roughly translates to, " . . . Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble..."

 

And although the holiday season reminds us to give more charity, perhaps more generously than most other months of the year, the lifting up need not be big or dramatic or contingent on catastrophe. I would suggest that extraordinary acts live in little places too: checking on a neighbor, shoveling a sidewalk, sharing a meal, offering a ride, listening to a heartache, lending a hand. 

 

So listen to that compassion calling. Reach out to the ones in need. And when you say, "I love you," to family and friends let the words signal more than the obvious. Let it signal words of encouragement and care: "I am by your side, come what may."

 

Because, despite the chiding by my daughter who reminds me to end my phone calls and informal visits with my mother with, "I love you", I tend to say goodbye with the more practical, "Don't worry, I've got you. I've got your back". In a world filled with needs and the needy, I hope like so many others, we act as living proof that real and moral support is always at the ready.

 

A contributing writer to the Herald since 2012, Lauren Lev is an East Meadow resident and a direct marketing/advertising executive who teaches advertising and marketing communications courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology/SUNY, LIU Post and SUNY Old Westbury.