I'M HUMAN, NOT PERFECT

On the bus on the way into work this morning I noticed the trees.

Usually they just zip passed the window and fade in to the background like everything else, but not today.

Today I paid close attention to the leaves on the tress, how they danced in the breeze with excitement, fell from the branches in a panic, or sat content in their place, watching the world go by.

They made me think of life.

Life is not sort of the thing I usually think about at 7:30 in the morning before I’ve had my coffee, but here I was, sitting on full bus, next to a man who clearly needed more than one standard seat, staring out the window, thinking about life.

I thought about how, if Mother Nature could let her children be so excited, why is it so hard for humans to get excited about life in general?

Now I know there are hundreds of thousands of people out there who embrace life and live it to their fullest, but then there are those of us who let it pass us by. Life doesn’t just happen; you have to do something with it. Opportunities don’t get handed to you on a plate; they’re a product of decision and circumstance.

The few times that life has reminded me that I am a mere mortal flashed before me.

Loosing my eldest brother several years ago, nearly loosing my father earlier this year, to watching premature new born Jack, my friends son, fight for the right for life.

Then, for a moment, I thought, “I don’t remember the last time I gave money to a homeless man”

Clearly I thought about a lot of random things on the bus this morning – it must be something in the water.

Then it came to me. The last time I gave money to a homeless man was a couple of months ago. He was selling The Big Issue on the street, so I took a twenty out of my wallet and exchanged it for a copy of the magazine, and refused to take any change.

I see a lot of homeless in this city. I think because Adelaide is one of the smaller Australian cities with a smaller population, you just notice them more. I don’t think there are actually any more homeless people than anywhere else, you just see them better.

The final thought I had, before plunging my hand into the depths of Mary Popins style handbag to retrieve my MP3 Player so that I could drown out these deep and meaningful feelings, was about how we pass people by.

Yesterday, my partner and I were walking around the town we’re due to move to in December. On the pavement there was a little bird making a lot of noise. It was injured and couldn’t fly.

“Cheep Cheep Cheep” he cried as we walked on by.

We stopped, said “aww”, and kept going.

My heart said to scoop him up and take him to the vet.

But it was Sunday, no vets open on Sunday.

So we left the poor defenceless little creature to cheep away.

We as a humans do this far too often. We see someone fighting for survival, for the right to life and for the right for good quality of life, and many of us just walk on by.

We walk on by, and leave the battlers to do battle with their demons.

It’s something I’m guilty of, and I’ll admit it. I’m human, not perfect.