We All Have Something To Offer

By Summer Intern, Evelyn

It’s so easy for us to distance ourselves from others and their stories. It’s easy for us to be aware of what is going on around us and not do anything about it because we are not directly affected. We can feel compassion and sympathy for others, but what good does it do for them when all we have to offer is our distant emotions?

Yes, it’s easy for us to sit in the comfort of our own homes watching the news on our flat screen TVs, feeling saddened by people’s tragedies, or happiness from their success stories, but why is it that we never feel compelled to act beyond that? Why is it so easy for us to discard these emotions and feel no social obligation to try and help in the most minimal way that we possibly can?

I keep saying “we” because I, too, was this way for many years. I didn’t think I had much to offer the world at such a young age.  I had no life experience and no money, so how was I going to be able to help others when I was just getting by myself? What I didn’t think about were those priceless skills I possessed.  I didn’t need money or anything extraordinary to be able to lend a helping hand. All I needed was one of my abilities that I had undervalued for so many years: being bilingual.

I had no idea just how incredible it was to be fluent in both English and Spanish. How this skill I had never stopped to appreciate could help me have a positive impact on other people’s lives. Sometimes we fail to recognize just how big of a barrier language can be and how it keeps many people from accomplishing their goals.  I learned that at no cost to myself I could really make a difference for others. To me, it was just that I knew two languages but to others who struggled to communicate from one language to another it made all the difference in the world.  

It is skills like this that come naturally to most of us requiring almost no effort from our part that we can use to increase our proximity and become part of their solutions. We all have them and they come in many different forms. However, most of the time we don’t use them because we are too busy distancing ourselves from others and believing we have nothing to offer.

If there is anything that I have learned from my short time being here in Bucerias it’s that everyone has something to offer. It does not matter how small or insignificant we believe it to be, we all have a valuable skill that can make all the difference to someone else. It does not take money or power to positively affect the people around us.

Sometimes the greatest things we have to offer cannot be bought. And yes it is nice to feel emotions from what we see on the TV but let’s not let those emotions stop at the end of the news broadcast. Let’s go out there and not be afraid to get close to people or social issues because the closer we are the easier it is for us to realize what we have to offer them.

Photo Credit: Britt Natalia