You are not alone

I am a TV fanatic, which means that I watch plenty of TV shows like sitcoms, drama, and crime series. As a writer I'm especially interested in all these stories. Because of the less time that I currently have - mostly because of two projects I'm working on and as my exams start next week, I have a few things to learn, too - I have two days of the week which I spend watching all my shows. I love to see the characters, the way they are involved in the story and develop every time a little bit. Sometimes I even compare them to each other. When I saw the new episode of Guys with Kids in which Marny and Gary think about who would be the best couple to take care of their kids if they both die, it reminded me of the Simpsons' episode the week before. Homer doesn't put a hairdryer into a chicken to heat it up - but it could have been him - but he and Marge are trapped after they were in the middle of a hurricane and a house fell on them. Which in my mind stands for the whole world is crashing down onto them, and sometimes even the craziest things can occur, maybe even those you're not at all aware of. So when Homer and Marge are in the house but can't go out, they think about who could take care of Bart, Lisa and Maggie, if something would happen to them. You see, same main topic on both shows, and indeed a very important thought.

Life is like the water of a river - it never stands still
picture by Wolfgang Staudt

But it's not only these two shows that I compared to other shows. In fact, every episode last week was about changes.  Like Abed on Community - he is afraid when he thinks about having his last year at Greendale. He doesn't like changes and he hopes to stay in touch with his friends he met there. Also Jake on Touch is not a fan of changes, especially not when they are not meant to happen. For him and his Dad started in season 2 a new mission, they are now in L.A., having a new last name and trying to find a girl and solve the big puzzle.

Even in Seattle Grace Mery West hospital, which means on Grey's Anatomy, there are lots of changes. After the plane crash the hospital has big money problems, and even though Dr. Cahill wants to help and has found a buyer for the hospital and therefore a solution for the lack of money, the doctors don't want that change. We will see if the plane-crash victims stick together and agree with Callie's plan to rescue the hospital without any change, but by using their own money to buy it. In Shonda Rhimes' other show, Scandal, Olivia Pope has to solve the probably biggest problem in her career. Fitz finds out that he wasn't elected to be the president, and James wants to reveal that, but didn't because he loves Cyrus, who works for Fitz, and he knows that the career of his husband would find an end and James have to raise their kid on his own. So while watching the show, you, the viewer, think about that change. What would happen if that all would come out? Of course this would mean the end of the show, so the only question I had: how do they get out of this?

But not enough changes: Barney on How I Met Your Mother wants to find out everything about the man Robin was obsessed with and sang about in her song, when she was a Canadian popstar. A few seasons ago, that wouldn't have been a thing Barney would do. So he had changed, too, and figured that out in last week's episode. On The Big Bang Theory Sheldon isn't ready to move in with Amy, nor wants Penny to move in with Leonard. So they all have to deal with a change that will come soon in their future, and lets them think about it. On Pretty Little Liars Spencer drives everyone crazy, after she figured out that her boyfriend Toby is part of the A-Team, which follows her and her friends since Allisson's death. Spencer changed a lot, as she is not that person anymore who has everything under control, makes exact plans and knows what she's doing. Also the 2 Broke Girls are not safe from changes. They find out that Andy moved, and Caroline doesn't like the idea being single for the rest of her life, while Max is told having a husband and kids in the future.

picture by MMcDonough

Changes come to all of us sooner or later, and sometimes we just think about possible changes in our future. Changes can scare us, when we think about what could happen. When we have to take a decision we ask ourselves 'what if...?' But in the end it's like what Abed find out at the end of the Community episode: a few years ago he didn't know the people he is now afraid of to lose. Back then going to the community college was the change. He was afraid what might happen, but he did it anyway. He went to the college, he met these people. And he doesn't regret that. It's normal being afraid of the future, but the present, right here and right now, was the future of yesterday. We all wanna stay in our comfort zone, we wanna do the things we know with the people we know and love. But we should never be afraid of changes, because they can be good. They can bring people in your life, or let you realize the truth of someone or something. Changes are sometimes surprises, happen coincidentaly, sometimes they are not that good, but in the end it's the changes that challenge us, that let us grow, and make us the people we are. 

The past is the present's teacher to improve the future.

When something in our life is constant, then it's the change. Life is never standing still, the earth keeps revolving. So when you are afraid of the future, afraid you could be alone some day, you are not and you will never be. As one door closes, another one will open.

OperationSAFE

This blog post is a part of the I follow my heart project 

 “The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit?” 

Proverb

Kids should be kids. They should play with their friends, have fun and living a good life with their family. A family that protects them, takes care of them and gives them love. But unfortunately not every kid is blessed with that. So many children lost their parents way too early and so they need others to help them. Like OperationSAFE, that is run by volunteers and short-term teams.

picture taken from the OperationSAFE-website

So many bad things happen every single day. You receive a bad message from your doctor, someone of your family suffers or someone you loved had died. It is hard for us to go through this, to understand why such a bad thing had happened to us. But imagine you would still be a child. Wouldn’t it be so much worse? Children understand such a disaster even less than an adult. Why did this happen to them? Why had their parents left them? Left them all alone? They keep asking themselves such questions and they will never forget what happened to them.

Maybe they also think they have done something wrong, and that’s the punishment. But of course that is not true. When an earthquake or another natural disaster caused the death of their parents and they have to live in an orphanage, they might not feel loved. These kids are loved but not by the ones they love: their own parents. They miss them, miss the safety they gave them. So when a kid gets affected by such a horrible disaster, they suffer much more than a grown-up, and so they need special help. OperationSAFE takes care of these children. They teach them the five important principles to emotional recovery and survival.

After such a disaster had happened and the kids know that they won’t see their parents again, they feel left alone. So the first thing for them is to realize that they are not. There are still people who love them and take care of them, because everyone is important. Life is a gift, and everyone is worth living his or her life. So they should make new friends and talk to them, it’s not about to give up but to look forward. Believe in yourself and follow your heart. Stay courageous and strong. You’ll realize that you are loved.

Stories, crafts, songs and games help these kids to regain hope. They make friends, communicate with each other, and try to forget. They won’t forget, but together they can get through it all a bit better and easier. OperationSAFE does a great job in my mind, that’s why I wanted to write about their work. I think it’s really impressive and a great thing. Children should be allowed to have a good childhood, they should not suffer, they should not have to go through such pain and think life is only about that. They should firstly see the beautiful sides of life. So when something so horrible happened to them, they need help of others to realize that they are not alone, that they are loved and life goes on. Everyone working for OperationSAFE shows us, that life really has very good, kind and generous sides, too.

For more on OperationSAFE go to http://opsafeintl.com/

Lonely in the crowd

I am walking down the path, don’t feel anyone next to me, don’t see anybody. It feels so freaking cold, I can’t describe it. I wanna go out, wanna leave this place. Where am I? How have I come here and how can I leave?

Well, the thing is: I can’t. The other thing is: I'm not alone. No matter where I go to, I’ll always find someone. Sometimes I need more time to be able to see him or her, but there is someone. I know it, I feel it - yet I do. You have to believe me. You are never alone.

You might know ‘footprints in the sand’ – if not, I posted it below this entry. It is one of my fave texts that I’ve ever read. I have framed that and hung it up next to my room, and every time I walk across it, I read the lines and I always get tears in my eyes. This is so beautiful and so true.

In our world not everything is easy. Sometimes we feel lonely. I had such a tough time one year ago. It took a while till I found back to what I love – you can read about it by clicking on the ‘My story’ tab of my blog, and go to 'When I started my blog'. Back then I thought I had nobody to talk to, nothing that I did made any sense to me. In some way I knew that I was surrounded by my family and friends, who would help me and take care of me, but I felt lonely anyway.

We are 7 billion people in this world. Such a very big crowd. So how can it be possible that someone feels lonely? We might haven’t the strength to talk about what is bothering us, sometimes we simply don’t know ourselves. I was lucky to be able to see again. I now know that you can’t see everything that is existing with your eyes. You have to see them with your heart and then you will understand that though you feel lonely or left alone, you’ll never be.

PS: Leona Lewis made a song in which she sings about it. I really love that song, even though I haven't found the original version of it on youtube. Just listen to the lyrics ;)

Two worlds

What is the most important thing in our life? Right: love. Nothing is more important than love because love made and makes us. There is not only one definition for love, one sentence can’t put in words what exactly it is. And that’s good. Because love is not just about a man and a woman, love is also the friendship between two people, the love for our parents, our kids. Even hate is some sort of love.

Everything started with love, our life started with love. The more love we receive, the more we can give and the happier we are. Love is free, like we are. We can choose who we love, what we love to wear, to eat, to drink, to see, to listen to. Love is what makes us, what surrounds us. We can show other people that we love them, and that’s what makes us stronger. Together we can reach so much more than on our own. We shouldn’t fight against each other, we need each other and we all have to know, that life is a precious gift that can be over way too soon and most when we least expect it. But when we live together, our weakness can become a strength, two people can do more things than a single person.

Besides love we also need freedom. Freedom for being ourselves. We don’t want to act, pretend to be someone else, we shouldn’t have to lie because we are afraid people wouldn’t like us the way we are. We want to be loved, we want to be expected, but we don’t wanna hide. We want to live the way we love to. No one should be judged about what or who they love or how they’re dressed. We should not lie, that’s in the Bible. But wouldn’t it be a lived lie, if we change the way we are, only that we get accepted?

When two worlds collide, that’s the start of a song by Amy MacDonald. These two worlds can be a mother and her child, a man and a woman, two men or women who love each other, brothers and sisters. They show their love, they change their life, become part of each other’s. The people who are close to us, the people we meet in life, these are the people who inspire us, who let us grow and makes us the persons we are right now.

And I believe that, when one day the time will come, and I have to close my eyes forever, that I won’t be completely gone. As long as the people I know and love, will keep on thinking about me. Because love is life. Love can’t be described with words. It has the power to survive everything. Because love has the freedom to be immortal and infinite.

In sync

Everything we do – we never do it alone. Have you ever asked yourself if you do something that another one does the same at the same time? It might sounds odd, but as there live 7 billion people on our planet, why shouldn’t this be possible? I mean I was never good in maths, and I can’t calculate from that information its probability – if you can, please tell me – but I think, things we do often every day and things we do for not just a minute, like sitting in front of the computer or sleeping, we can be sure, that we are never alone doing the same thing at the same time.

Concerning the internet, I am very sure that not just one sits in front of his or her computer when I am it front of mine. Writing on my book, my play, my blog or just spending my time on Twitter. Oh how would that be boring if no one would be on Twitter the same time I am. Or Skype – what a wonderful invention. I can still be in contact with my cousin who lives with her hubby and son on Crete. I can’t see them very often in real life but I can see them on Skype.
The internet is a great place to spend time with and I don’t wanna miss this. I remember the time, when we didn’t have a computer, when I didn’t have a smartphone. I still remember the time when I was at school, nobody knew social media, nobody knew Facebook because it didn't exist and so nobody missed it. But then it came into our lives and what would we do without it?

Being connected – we all are, but the internet gives us the chance to see it. I think there are so many things we do in sync with others – without knowing. We all belong together. We are all social, we are all human beings, we live at the same time, some might be born at the same time – not twins of course, for them it’s impossible to be born at the exactly same time, and some will leave the world together. I guess knowing that, gives me new hope: I am never on my own.