Feel

"Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something."- H.Jackson Brown Jr.

Feel those around you, try it, honestly it really changes the way you think of people and the world. There's many a time when we ignore the presence or feelings of others simply because we do not know them or because they are not accustomed to us, but I think it's about time that it changed. We should feel the pain of others, their sorrow, their perspective disregarding their social status with our personal self. Empathy is the strongest form of kindness that someone can provide without saying a single word. It can sometimes be worth more than any form of charity because rather than coming from possession, it comes from within you. Not everyone can afford or gather resources to formally provide assistance to someone in need, but anyone can take the only currency that is invaluable, the only form of currency that is available to everyone and in an insurmountable amount, that which we call time, and give it to someone, anyone that may need it. A few moments out of your life could potentially save a stranger's future, or it may even spark within them hope for a future that they never thought would exist.

Feel everything, feel joy but also feel grief, do not be afraid of negative emotion. I've said it before, but it is alright to mention again. Any form of emotion is like a knife, this analogy has been used for many other examples but it works for this as well. A knife is only as dangerous as its wielder. The hand that holds the knife may be evil, the crimes committed using that knife may be cruel, but you cannot blame the knife, it is but a tool, as most things are in life. In good hands, a knife may be a tool that can save. It grants protection, it helps heal injury, it can assist you in times that may prove difficult to survive in, it can do many things good and bad but it depends on who is holding that knife, or rather, the perspective and ideal of good and evil that the wielder may have.

Emotions are not so different, each emotion is only as strong as the person that is feeling it. Sometimes, no matter the magnitude of the situation, one may choose to still see their situation in good light, and use their emotion to become someone better than they were. The subtle art if optimism you could call it. Not necessarily optimism though, as I said, negative emotions do not have to be inherently bad or good, it depends on how someone receives those negative emotions within themselves. You can choose to dwell within the emotion of guilt or you can use that negative feeling to learn from your mistakes and not do the same again. You can lose once and feel disappointment and anger, you could choose to obsess over that one moment of defeat or you could use those emotions to get better, to ensure victory the next time.

Emotions are our weapons, they are our swords in stones; our Excalibur, Clarent, Durandal, Joyeuse, Caladbolg, Caliburn, Gram, and Arondight. Point being, they are what we use to defend ourselves against the world. Each emotion in and out of itself can either be a double-edged blade, cutting ourselves down with every strike we make or a blunt-edged one, good enough to do what is necessary to move forward, harming no one but still giving you the experience necessary to become better. Think of it as anger and empathy. The more hatred you feel, the more you are able to cut down, yet you are also hurting yourself by filling your mind with endless fury, eventually, it will take a toll on a person. Empathy will not harm anyone, it is not a form of brute force that allows you to mow down your obstacles, yet it will heal a person, grant them peace, and will make you stronger in the process.

It is a strange concept, but I tried to make it as clear as possible. Simply put, do not disregard any single emotion as bad or good, emotion is only as strong and dangerous as the person feeling it, and you can choose what kind of person wields it if the emotion attempts to surpass your mind. We choose who we become, not our environment, not god, not fate, just us. No matter what anyone says, we make our future, with dedication and commitment towards something, we humans have the power to turn the smallest things into something that changes the world.

Take a step, be that person standing out to help someone on the streets, at school or a workplace. Ignite an emotion in those around you that encourage empathy towards their surroundings. Do not be ashamed to help someone you do not know. Just as you may have, they have also lost, loved, hated, cried and laughed. Humans are cut out because they have the potential to feel the love in those that they have never met or cared for before in their life, all it takes is one little mental push to open that barricade and feel everyone around you.

"Be the first, there is no shame in initiation, it just means you were strong enough to stand out for what must be done" - unknown

Ravi Roshan