On Saturday 5/14/2022 a gunmen shot and killed 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo NY. On the same day a gunmen opened fire at a church picnic in Laguna Woods CA and killed one person.
I am not trying to bum you out but the news is pretty depressing. It really makes you sad to think about the 11 people who will not be with their loved ones here on earth anymore.
There are 137 days that have passed so far this year and the police in the United States have shot and killed 358 people.
There have been multiple news stories and editorials detailing the violence in the United States this year last year and the year before. Violence is on the rise, deaths are too and some of the editorials are trying to find correlations among the senseless cowardly violence. One thing that is abundantly clear is the lack of concern for life by those that are committing the violence.
If you ask anyone if life is valuable that will almost always say yes of course it is but, when you become more pointed with your questions the value of lie seems to drop quickly and dramatically.
What matters most above anything else you do on earth is the relationships you take part in with other humans. The number one reason people quit and leave companies are toxic work places. Another way to describe it is bad relationships with coworkers and management.
Make a habit of to things: to help; or at least to do no harm
Hippocrates
We have to value everyone. Every person everywhere we have to value them. In July 2013 a unarmed young black man was shot to death. The killer was found not guilty and upon further investigations society realized that black Americans were being slaughtered at a much higher rate than any other race in the country and much of the murder ended the same way as the death of the young man without justice. This realization started the movement Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter works to bring social justice to the forefront and supports the black community in the United States with scholarships and community service projects.
Black lives do matter, however it does not seem like they do. There is almost no justice for the death of black men and women. There is little respect in the United States for life and less respect in the United States for the lives of minorities.
How can this be fixed? It has to start with me and you and then our families.
- No death should ever be considered justified ( I will try my best to make sure that I never promote or believe this concept. Life is a precious gift and should never be taken from anyone that has been rewarded it)
- Take an interest in everyone. (everyone matters and everyone is interesting. everyone has a story to tell and is doing something that matters if we learn about this we will place more value on this person)
- Invest in others (I try to give regularly to charities that seem to make a difference and I want to give more. When I give I like to think of this as not just charity but an investment. I am investing in a better world for the next generation)
- Make time for everyone. (It is easy to “be too busy” no one and everyone is “too busy” if someone or something really matters you and I will make time for them. I am going to strike the words too busy from my vocabulary it is always a lie and there is really truly no way to measure it)
- Let people be great. (Sometimes getting out of the way and letting people impress you is one of the best and coolest things you can do. Letting people impress you requires trust and practice. Some one will tell you they will do something 10 times before they actually do it but you have to let them try and fail at least 10 times)
Let us all work together for a better future that will not include so much violence. I promise that it is possible but only if we value life, others as well as our own.
The Corrigan Encore 