The Battle in My Mind

Every adventure I take breeds another opportunity for personal growth. Although the purpose of each trip is usually relaxation, I never pass up any opportunity to gain wisdom. Jamaica was jAMAZING! The culture is so rich and the people are extremely caring and relaxed. Along our journey to Jamaica, we met some extremely wonderful people that took the time to educate us on the lifestyle, history, and culture. However, along with the beautiful weather and water also came the difficulty to maintain a decent lifestyle without struggle. Being on an island, gas prices were triple the cost of my norm due to the transport cost to get the gasoline in their area, therefore many people cannot afford to buy their own car and rely heavily on taxis or buses.  We discussed rent/mortgage, bills, family and were enlightened that most, although not all do not have air conditioner, live with their family for a long time or forever to economically survive, and with the income they earn they must sa...

  [For the most part] Society tends to have some sort of empathy when one is affected with tragedy of unfortunate circumstances. The constant urge to keep up with the news to see how one’s city is coping or recovering from a natural disaster gets the mere feeling of “that’s so sad” yet the world continues on because it doesn’t pertain to them. Wild fires, hurricanes, malnutrition, orphanage, cancer, death, murders, and the list goes on. From a far, we can all feel the pain and can’t imagine how people are feeling but seeing things for yourself puts a different spin on it. With that said, a personal experience changes your entire outlook. I must admit when Katrina hit, I watched the news and just felt so sorry for the people. I checked on my friends that lived in the area and once I knew they were okay, I was okay. But what about the masses that lost everything. Why was I okay because no one I knew personally had been destroyed? Again, it didn’t pertain to me. It became a fictional...