Ripple

Like many of us, the tragic events that unfolded on the evening of October 1st in Las Vegas have left me feeling a great magnitude of sadness. For the victims, for the survivors, for Las Vegas, for the state of Nevada, for the United States and in reality for the entire world. How these same types of events seem to keep happening seems unreal. The list seems as if it will never stop growing and the countless faces and stories of the people it takes with them only seem to multiply.

Columbine. Virginia Tech. Aurora. Sandy Hook. Charleston. San Bernadino. Orlando. Las Vegas. 

While I can only speak on behalf of myself, being a young mom, raising a little human in this kind of world just fills you with a sense of dread. A dread of "what if". What is going to happen next and sadder yet - where? Because as time has proven again and again it will. If 20 first graders can die via mass shooting and nothing is done about it, you can guarantee it will happen again. As it has already proven.

I'm not stepping on my invisible soapbox to preach gun control. Mental health help. I don't know the answers and I fear that even with great steps for each of those fields (which both desperately need reform) the crazies will find a way to do what their sick mind is telling them too. So I think about one of my very favorite quotes said by Mother Teresa:

If you want to bring happiness to the whole world, go home and love your family.

When I look at my little girl who's biggest world worries are the fact that I won't let her wear her daytime clothes to bed (seriously a legit battle) and when I look down and see my stomach growing with new life. I can't help but worry and yet feel an immense amount of hope. I worry about the things they will see in their lifetime. The tragedies yet to unfold, the war's we may become active participants in. I worry about a division of people right here in our country. People disliking one another without knowing one another. Religion separating and fear and hate continuing to pulse.

So what can I do? I will go home and love my family. I can't be their shield from all of life's very ugly realities. But I can do my best to show them all its beauty. The beauty that is always, always there even in very ugly situations. I can show them how to look for it, how to help others look for it and to remind them that even in times of great despair. It's there, sometimes not as easy to find, but it's still there.

I can tell them about the people who help. The people who advocate for change. The people who simply decide to love harder and more often. To say it out loud. People who proudly don uniforms to help those in need. Because in times of tragedy they too are always there.

It seems almost too great a task to bear raising the next generation. But at the same time it's too great a task to bear to do so poorly or inadequately. Without love, understanding, kindness and compassion. Our greatest hope is the future we raise. So go home and love your family and let's hope that doing that just a little harder will create a ripple that touches everyone. We owe them that much.