This I Believe: Living a Good Life

Inspired by This I Believe, “a national media project that engages people in sharing and discussing the core values and beliefs that guide their daily lives,” I have decided to take a different approach from the previous weeks by sharing a personal story that may help provide my readers with some insight into who I am and why I decided to focus on human rights and animal welfare as the main theme for this blog.

I remember being a child growing up in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and having many long captivating conversations with my grandfather about what it meant to live a “good” life. He always used to say, “Uno sobrevive con lo que gana, pero uno vive por lo que da.” Loosely translated, it means: “You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give.” I know it might sound a bit cliché, but this was honestly the type of person he was. My grandfather was the kind of man who believed that everyone, even if in a small way, had the ability to help make the world a better place. As a young child I admired his convictions and as an adult I revere him even more because I have a greater appreciation for what he was saying. In fact, I have adopted his philosophy as my own. So when I ask myself, what do I want out of life? What do I believe in? I realize that I believe in living a good life, the kind of life that would make him proud, a life in which my work brings about a positive and significant impact on the lives of others and that inspires individuals to do the same.

I chose to write a blog about human rights and animal welfare because I recognize that sometimes we can easily get so caught up in our own lives that we tend to forget about the fact that there are countless amounts of people and animals who are suffering elsewhere, at this very moment. I do not intend to come off as patronizing or preachy through my posts. I never want to be that person. My true goal is simply to inform and educate others on these very real matters. Once we are informed it should be our obligation to do whatever we can do to elicit change, no matter how insignificant our action appears to be. As I have mentioned in my posts before, even something as easy as making more conscious decisions in our purchasing habits can make a difference. Collectively, we can have a big impact on the world and help end suffering one being at a time. It may sound corny, but it is the truth.

Two weeks before my grandfather passed away, he asked me, “What do you want most for your life?” That was easy to answer; I told him that I wanted to be just like him. He smiled and said, “Tu destino te aguarda cosas mas grandes.” This means, “You are destined for greater things.” I do not know if this is true, I do not even know if there is such a thing as destiny, but I do know that we are all capable of doing great things, and so I will always do my best to make him proud.