Jenn Satterwhite

I usually try not to use my blog as a pulpit.  I  try not to come off as someone who tries to make people think as I do. I tell stories.  I am not a motivational speaker or preacher and I don’t  use my blog as such.  So, since you have been with me (many of you) for years, indulge me as I share something with you.  I need to say it.  If not for you, than for someone whose heart is open to it.

There are people I love who have been through hell this past week.  Good people. For that matter, maybe even some bad people, too.  Who they are doesn’t matter.  They are people.  Many are suffering.  Many are in situations that are unfathomable to you as you sit in the comfort of your home cruising the Internet.  Situations that should bring a tear to your eye or at the very least make you see that there is a world out there so much bigger than your tiny circle that you deal with on a daily basis.  People whose problems are bigger than many of yours.  Most definitely that are much bigger than anything in my life, that is for damn sure!

This is Nashville:

Look at it.  Watch it.  And when you do, don’t ignore it.  What if it was your town?  What if you were stranded without power for days and couldn’t get out or get supplies?  What if your neighbor or your friend was missing and you knew that it has become a “recovery mission” and not a “rescue mission” now?  Ask yourself whether or not the little annoyances matter in the grand scheme of things.  As people have lost everything, ask yourself if the situations you are in- whether by choice or circumstance- are nearly as devastating or nearly as important as the ones these people are facing right now. Or if maybe, just maybe, you personally could use some of your own passionate nature (and I know my readers…they are passionate) to better use for these people.  When you complain about having to deal with difficult people at work, be thankful you can go to work and then have a home to come back to at the end of the day. A home that is not under water. A home that is not devastated.  A home where you have not lost everything.

I am not saying your problems are not real.  They are real.  Your struggles and grievances are just as valid.  And, yes, they do matter. But for the love of all things human, LOOK at what people are dealing with right now.  Look at their problems.  Look at the real devastation in their lives and ask yourself:  If I refocused my energies on the people of Nashville who need it, would that be a better use of passion, my prayers and my time than whatever it is I am currently focused on?

This flood hits my heart hard.  I have people I have come to love that live there.  I have friends who have been blessed enough to only endure a lack of power and friends who have seen complete devastation.  THIS is what matters right now to me.   And,  you know what?  THIS is where I choose to focus my energy, my attention and my heart.  The silly little bullshit that goes on in day to day life that no one truly cares about and won’t even remember a year from now?  I Do. Not. Care. About.  That.  Not when people I love face a situation such as this.  My attention is where it needs to be and should be.

I care about these people who need it.  I care about the loss of lives.  I care about the people who are mourning the deaths of neighbors and praying that they can have something…anything… of their lives to salvage.

People I love are in need of my attention.  And that?  That is where I am focused because that is what matters in my heart.

And I would hope it would matter to others as well.  Get out of your bubble and give your attention to people who need it. Isn’t that what humanity, compassion and “the greater good” really are about?

Think about it.

To help

– Check Hands on Nashville or follow  Hands on Nashville on Twitter for information

-Or, donate to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee