A friend posted on Facebook how she plans on making a small goodie bag to give to a female homeless person. She went on how she didn't know who exactly that person would be, but felt she would be guided to them. She had listed the things she would be putting into the bag, and then asked, "what do you give a homeless person?"
I sat and pondered...because sadly, I could answer this question from my own life experience. As I debated on whether or not to comment, I'm not a big fan of Facebook anymore, people are too open about the most personal things. I try to avoid chiming in only to have my phone blown up from the other 50 people who had an opinion. I also avoid going to people's personal pages as it only makes it depressing to see how well someone claims to be, leaving you down in the dumps when they are probably miserable and living up to the next door neighbor. But, I digress.
While I never commented on her page, it did get me thinking. What does a homeless person want?
They want hope, that everything will be ok. Whether you feel they deserve it or not, any negative comments or feelings really should fall under, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" rule.
A bed, nothing feels better than to sleep in a bed, to stretch out, when that luxury has been taken away from you.
A shower, the deep desire just to feel clean. While I have been fortunate to have consistent stability for a little over a year now, a shower still feels amazing.
Clean clothes, the opportunity to wash and dry your clothes, to be able to fold them and smell the aroma of clean.
To eat. Being hungry is not fun and is a miserable experience.
Yes, there are people out there who are bums, who do not want to work, who will suck the life out of you and anyone around them. Yet, there are more people who do want to work. They want to make their life better. Due to circumstance well beyond their control they got hit and hit hard. Now they are down and out and struggling to try their very best to get ahead. Each day you hope for an opportunity to take that step where you can start living your life, do better than the day before. Most of your days is watching the days go by and wondering with great hurt in your heart what the hell you did so wrong to get into such an awful predicament.
To have those around you, be kind. Even if you do not think they deserve it. The voices in our heads are cruel enough, you don't have to be mean, just smile and say nothing.
What do you give a homeless person? I'm sure I could give you an endless list; a nail file, nail clippers, water (not warm from your car, everything we experience is already hot and warm-unless it is winter then everything is cold), a shower, lotion, soap, food... but there is more than that in which someone who is without needs, security, hope and love. That one opportunity where we can start making a difference in our own lives.
How do you give that? I don't know, but next time you see someone down on their luck, don't judge. That is the best thing that you can do.
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