Perspectives author Elsa Glover occasionally recruits fellow teachers or students to take over her regular slot in the schedule and share their opinions with WNIJ listeners. Today, we hear from Kaneland High School Spanish teacher Dylan Donley.
You might have said once before that you would give that homeless person a few dollars, but you’re not sure what they would do with it. You might have had one person whisper in your ear that someone could abuse your generosity. Another person might maintain with great conviction that we should give freely and not be influenced by negative stereotypes.
I think it’s okay that we feel neither entirely cynical nor entirely altruistic. I have felt myself go through sometimes confusing stages of evaluating my motives and values, as well as those that I perceive of others. After recently going through this mental process in my own life, I felt guilty and lost. So what was the tipping point for me? To see myself in the other person. To remember how much it meant when someone gave when I had so little. To recall the fruit of the empathy that I was shown when I was in need.
What to do, then, when presented with the chance to help a friend in need? Or a community organization? Or just your fellow human? Even when faced with complicated circumstances, I urge you to pick generosity and participate in the difficult process of empathy.
Someone took that chance on me, and it made all the difference.
I’m Dylan Donley and that’s my perspective.
