No Man is An Island...
What does this quote mean to you?
I personally think it means that, as humans, we cannot be living for ourselves alone. Whatever we choose to do affects others around us. There is no way we can be so selfish, want only what we want, forget what's the best for our family, neighborhood, or the world, and go after it.
But, I am sure you, as I, have run across people who could care less what the acting out of their desires does to others. You see it in Hollywood--stars who drink, drug, commit other infractions of the law--and are in such demand, put on such a pedestal, that they seldom suffer any consequences for their actions. I could care less what happens to them personally; if the headlines one of these days are that they died of a drug overdose, or alcohol poisoning, or such, I can only pray that God will take mercy on their souls. I am concerned, however, about the fact that they are seen as role models for their siblings and for hundreds, if not thousands, of "groupies or fans" who desire to be just like them.
Once someone in my life thought he was so special that everything he couldn't get, each job he lost, every failure he had, was someone else's fault. He ignored his family, spent his paycheck on his pleasures,, and still bragged about "all I did for my family." For years, he bemoaned the fact that his family never showed him any appreciation when he came home penniless, drunk, or smelling of cheap perfume.
He found out he wasn't an island. He lost his family before he killed his wife, or his children were beaten. He died twenty years later, broke, a drunk, alone, issolated in a foreign country; the end of his selfish life was mourned by few.
If we want respect, seek to be content in our place in life, happy in the knowledge we love and are loved, and have given our hearts to the beauty of the world around us, we have built a life that creates bridges to all the islands. And we will find they are
***
Prompt: What music do you enjoy? Why? Share a memory of the time music enfluenced you, your life, or connected you to someone you'll never forget.
I personally think it means that, as humans, we cannot be living for ourselves alone. Whatever we choose to do affects others around us. There is no way we can be so selfish, want only what we want, forget what's the best for our family, neighborhood, or the world, and go after it.
But, I am sure you, as I, have run across people who could care less what the acting out of their desires does to others. You see it in Hollywood--stars who drink, drug, commit other infractions of the law--and are in such demand, put on such a pedestal, that they seldom suffer any consequences for their actions. I could care less what happens to them personally; if the headlines one of these days are that they died of a drug overdose, or alcohol poisoning, or such, I can only pray that God will take mercy on their souls. I am concerned, however, about the fact that they are seen as role models for their siblings and for hundreds, if not thousands, of "groupies or fans" who desire to be just like them.
Once someone in my life thought he was so special that everything he couldn't get, each job he lost, every failure he had, was someone else's fault. He ignored his family, spent his paycheck on his pleasures,, and still bragged about "all I did for my family." For years, he bemoaned the fact that his family never showed him any appreciation when he came home penniless, drunk, or smelling of cheap perfume.
He found out he wasn't an island. He lost his family before he killed his wife, or his children were beaten. He died twenty years later, broke, a drunk, alone, issolated in a foreign country; the end of his selfish life was mourned by few.
If we want respect, seek to be content in our place in life, happy in the knowledge we love and are loved, and have given our hearts to the beauty of the world around us, we have built a life that creates bridges to all the islands. And we will find they are
***
Prompt: What music do you enjoy? Why? Share a memory of the time music enfluenced you, your life, or connected you to someone you'll never forget.
Labels: appreciation, bridges, goodness, island, Quote
posted by Barb | 10:20 PM
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