rd95: kleinbl00: I think we become mentally paralysed because, you just can't help everyone or everything you care about. In India I was somehow proud of how I'd managed not to let all the poverty, misery and suffering affect me, albeit a big mental struggle. On the day we left, I had a small bag of left over fruit and food we'd bought and saw a small girl come up to the car as we were on the way to the airport, so I opened the window and handed her the bag. She immediately rushed to the curbside and five or six other kids appeared from nowhere to her side, and she shared it all with them. The fact they were all obviously starving and she still shared her bounty with the rest of them somehow broke the floodgates and left me in silent tears. I spoke to a friend who's spent a lot of time travelling through India with a small disaster relief organisation and asked him how he coped and how you decide who to help and who not to help. He said it's impossible, so I asked him what can you do? He replied "You just help this one and that's all you can do" by which he meant since you can't help everyone, just focus on helping where you can and let that be enough. It doesn't solve the problem of choice, but it helped break that paralysis of what to do in the face of overwhelming need. After a while I got used to seeing them and while they saddened me, I became numb to the sights. I feel really shitty typing that out, but it's the truth. If I let every sad thing I see on the road side get to me, I'd go crazy. I think anyone would.
It's been on my mind ever since. Every person on the street is somebody's Paul. And I need to do more. I'm not sure how yet.