Love for one another.

[007 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 007]

I came across this pic on another site, and it haunts me. It reminds me that even though I have rough patches in life that I need to live with an attitude of gratitude, and really be thankful for what I have.

It also gives me a kick in my complacent rear end and says get out there and make a difference....help someone today. We are all family despite our differences, let's take care of one another!

This photo breaks my heart every time I see it. To think of how rough life has been on such a tender little guy, it's so sad. And it anger's me the corruption of some governments that allow their people to starve to death.

The most cruel part of the pic, is the vulture in the background.........just waiting.........

So be thankful for today, hug those close to you, be grateful for what you while you are striving for more. But please, let's all just take care of each other.

[Closed039 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Closed039]

That is extremely fucked up. Sadly, there is really nothing you can do. I sometimes think its worse to give money and food to Africa because all it does is sustain them at such an unacceptable level. I'm not insensitive but the quality of life just isn't there. It's sort of like somebody on a respirator that wants to be put out of their misery.

[beavertaffy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close beavertaffy]

Nah man, don't take a helpless attitude.

I'm not sure if plugging websites is totally against the rules or not, but this is CLEARLY not any kind of competition for pegym (and I don't work for them) so I hope it doesn't get deleted:

• Check out kiva.org

It's nothing like the way most poverty charities work (which send free food into a country, further screwing up their agricultural economy by making it even harder for farmers to stay in business). What this is, is giving zero interest loans (of as little as $25) to people in poor countries to start or grow small business ventures. There are lots of farmers out there who don't have basic farming tools, a lot of clothing makers without fabric and thread, and a lot of other people in similar situations who just need the basic resources to get on their feet in something that will allow them to feed their families for years (maybe for the rest of their lives).

There are so many people in the 3rd world with absolutely desperate work ethics, and nothing productive to channel their energy into. One of the best parts is, after you help fund a loan, you get 100% of the money back the vast majority of the time. I strongly encourage anybody who's interested in helping people in awful situations (i.e. anyone who is aware of extreme poverty and has a conscience) to give it a try. You get to see the profiles, with pictures of the people, and choose the specific entrepreneur you want to fund, and you often get updates about how their businesses are progressing after you fund them. At the end of the loan period (which usually ranges from 4 months to 2 years), it's up to you if you want to withdraw your money, or invest it in a new loan.

[007 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 007]

It is messed up PeS.

And I like the spirit Beav.

I see there are not a whole lot of responses, the ugliness in the world can sometimes be intimidating. And the struggles of others are not more inportant than our own personal struggles, we all have pain and hardship; whether we are starving or are obese, whether we are poor or rich, whether we are abused or are the abuser.

So I am not posting pics to make anyone feel guilty or to incinuate people start donating to charities. My purpose is to let everyone know that is could be worse, and that we should appreciate what we do have, moreover to invoke a sense of tolerance and love towards one another.

I mean I have plenty of pain in my life but when I see pics such as the one above or this one, it makes me realize that I actually do have it pretty good.

And what is further sad about these two pic, granted they simply represent one moment in time, is that these dear little kids seem to be suffering all alone,......no one should should suffer alone.

But people from all walks of life in every corner of the globe do every single day. It is really sad.

If everyone could simply do one simple kindness for another everyday, it could start a revolution.

Now some people out there are real monsters and deserve an ass whoopin', and this form of tough love on some, is more a kindness than turning the other cheek.

[MrBigDick Retired ModeratorPEGym Hero Find all posts View Profile Close MrBigDick]

Seeing images like those really hits the heart. It also makes one realize how fortunate and blessed we are to be living where we do, where starvation is almost a foreign concept.

[beavertaffy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close beavertaffy]

I think it has a lot to do with how far away it is and how easy it is to feel separate from it. One of those infomercials for a hunger charity on TV that I saw once used a really good sort of hypothetical comparison that really made me feel I had to start doing something (not through their particular charity though because it was inefficient).

But the thing they said, was to imagine what you would do if there were a starving family on the other side of a glass wall while you were eating dinner with your family, and how in that situation almost no one would still let them starve. Somehow that just really struck me, cause I know that extreme poverty still sucks just as bad even if it's far away, but I know if I saw something like that starving little kid with the vulcher as I was walking around in my neighborhood, I would end up devoting the whole day to helping him without a second thought.

If only people across the world felt a little more connected.