Let's Make A Pact

A few years ago, I was sitting in my living room in my college apartment watching (because it was there) A Little Princess. There's a line in this movie where Sarah turns to Becky and says, "Becky, let's make a pact. I've always thought of us as sisters. Let's promise to always take care of each other."

At the time, I was sharing the living room with my roommate Mandy, who wanted to watch the movie, and my friend Nate, who was there trying to teach me how to use Excel. Right after this scene, without missing a beat, Mandy turned to Nate and said, "Nate, let's make a pact. I've always thought of us as sisters. Let's promise to always take care of each other."

Tragically, Nate didn't make much of a sister (although we did call him Sister Nate for the rest of the year). However, I liked the idea of defining sisterhood as a mutual desire to look out for one another, and I've always been amazed at how much taking care of someone increases my love for them.

I've been watching some friends going through some tough times lately, and I've been coping with some mildly difficult things myself, and I've been watching the way people step in to try to help, even when they don't have anything to offer but their love. I'm fascinated by the way that finding someone who has had a similar experience can make a bad situation better, just because it's nice knowing someone understands. I love the way I am made better when I can pull myself out of my own drama long enough to see how I can try to help someone through theirs.

So, lovely readers, let's make a pact.

Gives Me Hope

I feel like I've been posting a lot about websites lately, but I discovered one today that makes me really happy. It's called Gives Me Hope; people write in with Twitter-length entries about experiences that gave them hope, and some of them are incredibly sweet and inspiring. Since we've been talking about hope, I thought I'd share; these were a few of my favorites from what I saw today.


One day when I was younger I walked to the nearest 7-11, and saw a homeless man standing with a puppy.
A couple friends told me to not give him money cause he'd waste it on drugs/alcohol. But I gave him two dollars.
He walked into the store and came out with a can of dog food to feed his puppy. He even gave me back change; 2 quarters. 
That man GMH.

Comment on #68086 (0) Jun 11, 2010 12:00 AM by Lanna, Aurora,CO - Inspiring feats

One day I passed a woman walking two dogs.
One was missing a leg, but they were both limping. I asked what happened. 
She explained that the injured dog had lost his leg, and that the other dog was copying him so he wouldn't feel alone. 
Caring pets GMH
Comments on #67987 (0)Jun 10, 2010 09:00 PM by Mimblewimble, Frederick, MD - Random acts of kindness


For three years, I gave a dollar to this one homeless man everyday on my way home from work.

I hadn't seen him at his usual place in the past month.
Today, I called for a cab to take me to the airport. And that homeless man was now my taxi driver.

Comments on #67718 (1)

Jun 8, 2010 11:00 PM by San Jose, CA - Inspiring feats

When I was a freshman in high school we had a Spring Concert.

I got my period during the concert and it stained my light blue dress. 
The senior girls huddled around me on the way out for intermission, and rinsed and blow-dried my dress in the girls' room. 
Their compassion for a little geeky freshman GMH.

Comments on #62913 (4)

May 28, 2010 12:00 AM by Somerville, NJ - Amazing friends

When my brother was in kindergarden, he couldn't stop talking about how cool and funny his best friend Jeremy is.
When we met him, we saw he was in a wheelchair. On the way home we asked my brother why he never told us that Jeremy was in a wheelchair. 
He simply said, "Because it isn't important." 
My brother's acceptance GMH.
Comments on #61990 (3)May 26, 2010 02:00 PM by Hanna L, Toledo, OH - Inspiring feats

Ladies (and gentlemen)--almost every one of these made me cry. There are some really amazing stories on that site. 


What gives you hope? I'll tell you mine--websites like Gives Me Hope, and like this Facebook group based on a PostSecret. People caring for each other gives me hope. 

Compassion

I came across this article over at Kirtsy the other day and wanted to pass it along. It's about the U.S. under-17 girl's soccer team playing in the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football). They were going to be playing against a team from Haiti shortly after the earthquake had occurred there. They realized they would be playing against girls who were devastated, emotionally and physically. Instead of strategizing and focusing on how to win, they went to work gathering supplies to give to the Haitian team when they met in Costa Rica. When the U.S. won their game against Haiti, they comforted the other team as they dealt with the overwhelming emotion of their situations.

Abby Wambach, who plays on the U.S. women's national team, wrote to the girls saying, "It is rare to have moments like that show up, but even more rare to actually do the right thing when they arise. It takes people who think outside of themselves to do what you all did. I believe it truly shows one's character. And to do it in the way you did was simply one of the most gracious things I've seen in a long time."

So, I admit, this article made me cry, but I am a cryer. Episodes of Little Bill on Nick Jr. make me cry. This story is touching. I know there are countless stories out there of people who were willing to spend their time and effort and money to help people in Haiti, as well as people in other parts of the world who are suffering, but it is refreshing and comforting to hear about teenagers who are working to help. Teenagers get all grouped together as being lazy or self-centered or spoiled or whatever, but there are those who are more concerned with the needs of others and who are stepping forward to show compassion and be an example to everyone. I love hearing about those teenagers. I especially love this story because these teenage girls didn't just decide to do this one day in school, they did it during a sports competition and they did it without the urging of any adult or outside influence.