Lots of people are feeling hopeless and upset right now, and for good reason. It's normal to feel like no matter what you do, things are going to get much worse for a lot of people. Blame, despair and anger are natural reactions, but as the shock of the situation dulls, what's your plan going forward?
Call me naive, but seeing hate have a resurgence makes me want to do more to help the people that are going to suffer the most. I'm going to make a plan to volunteer more of my time and resources to help organizations that need it. I'm going to see if my friends can organize with me to sponsor a migrant family. I may not be able to do much, but my personal way of coping with shitty situations is to try to make the world a little less shitty.
I'm going to try to be kinder and more forgiving with people, and be a better role model for my kids. And I'm going to resist and fight back against hate when I see it.
Lastly, I'm going to be a more supportive friend to the people in my life. And to anyone reading this that feels like this world's gone insane, and you're all alone: you're not. We're still in this together, and I appreciate everything you're doing.
I started the tradition with my parents and brother of saving money over the year for charity. We put up a jar at my parents house and whenever we visit and have money to spare (which for me is a fixed amount that I put aside every month), it goes into the jar. On christmas the money is split evenly among us and everyone tells which cause/organization they are going to donate their part to.
The jar thing is not ideal because I rarely have cash on me so I always have to go to the bank first and then when it’s time to donate, the cash money has to go back into the bank. But it’s nice to look at and it doesn’t tell exactly how much is in it from a glance, so it’s a bit of a mystery until Christmas. I might propose to go digital for next year though.
I miss having spare change. Everything is so much more convenient with a card and as a result I have no coins on me at any time. The hardest hit are the homeless, and you see them outside the stations really struggling to get anything