Devastated

My home town is on fire, the hospital where my daughter was born has been evacuated. I am devastated. Here is the strange thing, I am also grateful. Grateful that my family is safe that I was able to speak with my sister this morning. The weariness in her voice was apparent as was the sadness.
It seems as though life has been one big parade of sad lately and the hits keep coming. The worst part is the feeling of helplessness watching the news unfold. The positive is that people are coming together but we need to do better. Why does it take a tragedy to remind us what is important? Why do we tear each other apart with judgement, unkind word and reactions?
I am emotionally exhausted, world weary and just plain sick and tired of it all. What can be done? I think about the lessons we teach our children, things like treat others the way you would like to be treated, but do we model that behavior? The implication of that idea is that others will respond in kind. There is an expectation that treating others well will illicit a similar response, but of course that isn't true. There are those that will respond and those that will not. Life isn't fair and doing the right thing is not about getting a desired response. So what's the point? I've written before about the difference between apathy and acceptance but I think action is part of the continuum. Most of us have been cautioned to be part of the solution not part of the problem but what does that mean?
Take action! Reaching out to others in their time of need is the obvious way to help but what you do daily matters even more. The small acts of kindness in a busy self-absorbed world go a long way toward reminding and reinforcing the notion of shared experiences.
We are all human beings, we care about our families, our friends, our communities. Lend a hand to people, not only in times of need but in times of plenty when it would be just as easy to gossip about them, tear them down and feel superior. Let's do better daily, let's move away from apathy and take action, even if that action is acceptance. Give what you can even if it feels insignificant, it may make a bigger difference than you know.

http://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incidents
http://abc7news.com/fires-force-evacuations-in-lake-napa-sonoma-mendocino-counties----watch-live/2510205/