My Personal Commitment

Yesterday I discovered the most amazing blog in the whole wide world.

http://the-abandoned-dog.blogspot.com

It's a tragedy turned miracle for a little dog that they call Tad. It comes down to the fact that a vet tech found him on a stretch of country road, abandoned and in a horrible state covered in sores and infections and inflicted with all sorts of parasites. She picked him up and with love and the help of the vet staff, nursed him back to health. Not going to lie, I was sort of a mess when I was watching the videos on the site. (I made Nitro and Daisy sit with me so I could have my puppies with me just so I knew that they were alright.) It started me thinking...

I was driving home from school tonight singing as loud as possible in my car with my heater blasting, thoroughly enjoying my evening. Then I noticed orange traffic cones in the far right lane and saw (as I hurtled past) a trucker standing in the freezing cold with a truck that obviously was out of commission for the moment. In that instant, I didn't feel anything but a snotty sense of superiority because my vehicle was still working. Then I realized that this trucker could easily be my own Dad on any given day. As my heart was sinking upon this realization, I knew that I had gone too far to pull over and help this gentleman, however my brain doesn't stop at times like these and I had already figured out that although you hear horror stories all of the time, this was a major interstate where I was unlikely to get abducted or attacked and I could send a mass text to people I'm close to just in case AND I always carry pepper spray with me. I had run out of excuses to not help based on "safety concerns."

As if I wasn't already feeling bad enough about not pulling over to help someone in need, I was thinking back on my day; I visited two very important people in my life, both of whom have gone on to the other side and both of whom wouldn't have even thought twice about turning themselves around and going back to help. Awesome. I'm an awesome person.

So here it is, my personal commitment; not only to myself, but to everyone and everything around me.

For the rest of this year (approximately 53 days) if I see someone on the side of the road for any legitimate reason, I will pull over and offer my assistance. I will also aide any animal that I see that is in need. No questions asked.

Don't worry, I will be smart and safe about it. I'm not going to go getting kidnapped. However, for how much preaching I did last post about the holidays and the great feeling that comes with them, I realized tonight that I sure don't help spread the joy much. Although pulling over to offer assistance may seem a bit strange coming from a blond girl who very obviously doesn't know a thing about cars and will probably make me insanely uncomfortable, I'm confident that this will make me a better person in the long run and that it will make my holiday season more merry :)

AROHA
(feel free to spread the love)