If society was a spinning top, the point would no longer be circling rapidly. Rather, the top would be on its side… lopsided… fallen. If society was a seesaw, corruption, inequality, and disparity would be sitting so heavily on one seat, the opposing seat would simply fail to rise toward the sky. If society were a game of Jenga, a single wooden block would be the base: just barely supporting the other blocks… in dire need of help.

We currently live in an unbalanced world. So many spheres of life (i.e. politics, education, the labor force) are no longer grounded. Rather, these domains have become crooked, polarized and negative inventors of violence.

We, as citizens, hear a lot about the troubles. Turn on the news. Look at the headlines. As you drive down the highway, examine the billboards. See the homeless men and the desperate pan handlers. We are constantly subconsciously and consciously exposed to negativity in our divided world.

It is exceedingly simple to become consumed by the daunting issues that society combats. These issues are complex, institutionalized, and engrained so deeply in the systematic organization of society. It is also quite easy to ignore the issues, all of those that do not affect our own daily lives. If it does not apply to you, why would you care? Right? Wrong.

While these issues are seemingly wide spread generalizations that affect distant strangers, I ask you to deconstruct these issues down to the individual. These problems affect infinite numbers of human beings… just like you, just like me. These systematic, complex, and problematic societal issues span from poverty, to racism, from inadequate healthcare to economic inequality.

These issues, however, are not as generalized as they seem. They affect your neighbor, your family member, the person who crossed the street in front of you… perhaps you.

The statistics touch and manipulate masses of individuals. In this obscurity, it is essential to consider the way that nearly every single individual is struggling with one challenge or another, detrimental or minimal. This is why compassion is so very important.

Through my years of life experiences filled with mess ups and failures, I have learned the extreme necessity for compassion. You will never fully comprehend the challenges each person is facing. You will never know the thoughts and emotions of another in the full capacity that the person is enduring them in. Be compassionate. Be kind. And, in this unhinged world we inhabit, be positive. Your smile, your genuine concern for another, your positive exchanges, are the triggers of an optimistic change.