Food for Thought
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Do you want to be first? Be last.
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Do you want to be a big deal? Serve others.
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Do you want to be great? Be a servant.
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Do you want to be number one? Be a slave.
For the past month or so, since the snow began
this winter, my trek each morning has lasted about 2 hours – from leaving the
house at 3:45 am. to arriving home around 5:45 am. This leaves me little time to get ready for
work, and head back out the door to get there by 7:30 am. Trudging through snow takes an extra ½ an
hour – that’s 1.5 extra minute to trudge to 20 spots. If the
snow is high enough, and I need to shovel out the shelters, we are talking
nearly 2.5 hours. That’s not fun. Mornings like that I try to leave the house
by 3:30 am. This morning, after two days of 50 degree weather, the snow melted,
and my trek took 1.5 hours. But that last half hour was not fun. It began to pour the last four stops I
made. I was soaking, and just peeled off
my clothes when I got in the house. This
is a gross job. But necessary. They need my help, and I am there to
serve.
“Do nothing
from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant
than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also
to the interests of others.”
I believe we should all serve in some capacity
to help others, whether it be humans or animals. There are many ways to serve – whether it is
going out and volunteering to help at a shelter for humans, or a shelter for
animals, it could be promoting
someone else’s ideas. Whenever possible, champion others. Send an anonymous donation to someone you
know who is struggling financially. Send
a care package to deployed soldiers! Go
to a shelter and offer to clean out litter boxes (Hearthside Cats in Avon could
use your help 24/7 with that!) Give compliments to others. Send flowers to someone. Volunteer in your community. Place others first in your day-to-day. Go walk a dog at a local shelter. Be a food-for-thought animal advocate. Even though serving animals at animal-welfare fundraisers is
commonplace, it presents an ethical conflict. The disconnect is astounding: A
number of shelters take in chickens and pigs, then turn around and host
barbecues. Chicken Parmesan is served to help not only Fluffy and Fido but also
Chicken Little. It’s the
responsibility of those working in the animal-sheltering community to be the
example and extend compassion to all animals, including farmed animals. Many of
these organizations share a mission to protect animals and ensure that they are
treated humanely. I am guilty of
the same with my fundraiser. I have had
four, and served meat at all of them. I’m
always trying to please everyone, but I should try to come up with better ideas
for food so its not harming an animal.
So the last service to an animal idea I have, if you are a true meat
eater, is to not eat meat for a few days out of your week. Shun the meat industry! Eat a vegetable! They really don’t have feelings, even though
I sometimes wonder if they do. 😕 And
remember to get that last bean out of the can after you empty it!
Lets get these beauties adopted:
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| BUTTERBALL |
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| CHARLIE |
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| CHEWY |
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| MILO |
Have a great day!
what a great post. :)
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