Interdependent Origination (my take)

A recent earthquake shattered the entire country of Haiti, exacerbating an already poverty-stricken nation. On one note, I am grateful for the outpouring of compassion from citizens across the globe. However, I am also disconcerted by the few (or many) who don't think twice when changing the news channel and simply turn on an apathy switch.

It is so easy for us to go about our daily lives and worries, self-ingrained in our own lives, without recognizing what's happening throughout the world--the environment and the 7 billion people who we don't have a direct connection with. More importantly, we fail to realize each of us are parts of a whole, interconnected and interdependent for survival. From the dying bees and frogs to the micro-bacteria and fungi responsible for nature's critical cycles, we fail to care for (or even think about) these abstract, external concepts until a long term problem smacks us (hard) directly in the face by changing the price of our precious oil.

Even though we are bombarded with daily news of all sorts, we still forget that soldiers are physically dying everyday for some idealistically forgotten war. Yes, the tragedy of natural disasters is inexplicable, but the real tragedy is how we don't realize that a person dies from hunger every 3.6 SECONDS. 25,000 children die every day from poverty. 13,500 people die each day from smoking. These statistics are so powerful, yet still fail to strike an emotional chord within us. Although the Haitian catastrophe is unfortunate, please see the opportunity it brings for each of us to reassess how we go about our daily lives without really appreciating everything/one that surrounds, impacts, and influences us .