Blog Action Day: Meditation–It’s Time to Think about Poverty

Today is Blog Action Day, and our goal–unite and educate the world about poverty.  Who it affects, what it means, how we are all touched by it.

If there’s one topic that impacts all of us, it is the pain and suffering of people who cannot afford to eat, can barely afford to live.  I write a lot about meditation and its benefits.  What I hope to encourage people to do is to stop–and think–and meditate–about what life is like for someone who cannot afford to feed themselves or take care of themselves or their families. 

Really look at the people we’re blogging about today.  Don’t just pass them by on the street as though they’re invisible or an uncomfortable reminder.  Stop.  Speak to them.  Offer to help.  Actually help.  My meditation and yoga practice is all about teaching myself to be in the present, to own every moment.  I can’t think of a better moment to own than one in which you perform an act of kindness that while it may seem simple or trivial to many of us, can make a tremendous difference in the life of someone who is struggling each day to survive.

No matter where you live, you can find people living in poverty.  Unfortunately in some cities these people can often become human wallpaper–you see them every day on your way to work, to the store, wherever, and their presence becomes almost acceptable.  It is not.  What I have learned from my yoga and meditation practices is this–you need to be aware of the world and the people around you.  You get back what you give to the universe.

I’ve meditated a lot on this today.  Even more important, I have made myself think–in real time–what life is like for the people I pass by on the way to my office.  Today it was a different walk into work.  I stopped and got to know a few of the men who quite literally live under the “Free Stamp” sculpture in downtown Cleveland.  They talked about the sculpture with me.  They told me they stay in that park, their only place to live, because nothing is free.  Not for them. 

So let’s all think–and do.  Meditation is a wonderful way to start.  Get thinking about it.  But don’t just stop there.  Do something.  Make it real. If it is nothing more than acknowledging that the people we see living in the grips of poverty have dignity and value, too, then that’s a great place to start.

Peace.