I Believe That we Should All Care, All the Time.

I believe that we should all care, all the time.

When I was in my first 2 years of middle school, I was slightly strange and loved talking to people who I realized too late never cared about me. I would tell these “friends” about things that happened to me, like getting a bad grade in a class or getting into an argument with someone.

I would be nothing but nice to them, and yet they couldn’t even pretend to care about me. One day when I was with these fake friends, I got my fingers slammed in a door and there was a big cut on it that definitely wasn’t shallow. They looked at me when they saw the cut, laughed and then walked away like nothing happened.

This might be dramatic, but to me, that feeling of being rejected and ignored when I was injured hurt more than the cut I had as I walked to the health room alone. It just kept happening to me, having whatever I said put down or viewed as not important. It really took a toll on me, and led to me retreating from conversations and socializing, which I love doing as an extrovert.

It’s not all sad however and it did get better, as one day late in 7th grade I was done with these people I called friends and made new ones instead. If you’re lucky enough to not have been in the situation I was in prior to leaving, then you might not know the bliss of finding someone who listens to you, who gives you their full attention, who really cares about you and what you have to say.

 It’s kind of like standing outside on a rainy day when your clothes are soaked and you’re miserable, but then the clouds disappear and the sun starts to shine through again. And no i’m not kidding this is basically how I felt.

This feeling I had is still around now, since I have better friends that support me no matter what. I think that my story is important because in the world we live in right now, taking the time to really try and care about the people around you is a great thing to practice.

There can be so much normalized negativity around us that it seems that the only way to cope with such pain is to put it on others, like a dismissive comment, a rude side eye, letting out a scoff at hearing something you don’t agree with. Obviously everyone probably has some negative thoughts towards another person, but nobody is making you say those thoughts out loud besides yourself. The real challenge is actually showing positive feelings towards others instead of just rude remarks.

Our lives can change at really any point in time and you can’t predict what will happen next. Having space in your heart to listen, accept and care about other people is probably the best way to show how you feel towards them. Practice some self-care, go for a walk and always be caring to yourself and others, because I promise you it pays off.