Personal Narrative: Cleaning the Park
Once, I went to the park with my friends. Everything around us was beautiful, clean, and tidy. The plants were green, and the flowers were blooming, just like in paradise. However, suddenly a clearing caught our eyes. Apparently, someone had a picnic there the day before, as evidenced by the paper, bottles, and cans. One of my friend’s spirits sagged, and he went to discover what else in this park was not in order. Some other friends also saw the consequences of the picnic but did not pay attention to them. They went ahead, chose a clean clearing, settled there and began to enjoy the surrounding beauty. In the evening, the friends went home happy. Moreover, there was another notable visitor among my friends. He also paid attention to the neighboring clearing. He did not like the picture too, but it did not spoil his mood, as in the case with the first man. Moreover, he did not run away to seek a better place, as the group of other friends did. He looked at the clearing and stepped there. He began to collect the paper, bottles, and cans and put them in a trash bin that was standing nearby. The rest of our group and most of the people passing by were surprised to see the elegantly dressed man cleaning the litter. Some of them passed on. However, a few, stopping for a moment, started to help him. While they were cleaning, their sense of kinship was growing. The most interesting fact is that a lot of children dragged their parents to clean up the clearing. An hour later, one could hardly recognize the place. There were no signs of the previous visitors. The people who worked together were sitting there and enjoying the beauty of nature, purity, communication and work done. That day, all these people went home having found new friends, soul mates, and, even, love. It did not matter that they lived in different parts of the city. Distance did not exist for them because their hearts now lived in one place – in the clearing where there was harmony and blooming flowers of love and unity that had linked them forever.
In this story, we observe the problem of shifting responsibility and blame on others. There are many similar situations in everyday life when people do not understand their responsibility for their actions. Moreover, they often do not understand themselves and the world. For example, there are situations when somebody walks through the city and sees a bottle of beer or something else lying on the pavement, while there is a bin nearby. One can blame it on the people thinking, “What a bad man left the litter. He could throw it away into the bin that was so close.”
To act as a defender of nature and purity is always a good idea. However, the question is: “Will it be easier for you to express your negative opinion with respect to the one who threw the bottle on the pavement?” Maybe, one should carry and throw the bottle into the bin himself. A person can live a lifetime and say how bad people are. Is the world going to benefit from such indignation? Instead, we can take responsibility and change this world. We can throw away the bottle without any negative thoughts, resentment, and misunderstandings. After all, a person appeared in this place to help nature – to take and throw away the rubbish without thinking what other people might think of him/her.
This story is an example of how people build their world. We can be indifferent and leave everything around us, as it is made by other people. If something does not satisfy us, we can always say that it is not our fault. In this case, a person deprives himself/herself of opportunities. Such a way of life has long-lasting consequences since some people become puppets in the hands of more powerful ones.
If a person is caring and always tries to change the world for the better, he/she effectively solves all the problems in life and is more independent. Responsibility means you know that everything depends on you, not on someone else. A person must have a willingness to admit his/her guilt.
This story helped me to realize that people should not remain indifferent to the problems of this world. Some of us express dissatisfaction with life and do not try to change the situation, while others devote their lives to the good. There are people who, instead of condemning drug addicts, help them to get rid of the addiction; those who take care of other people’s kids instead of hating parents who abandon their children; people who, instead of talking about the destruction of forests, plant trees themselves. These people are active in every area of life and try to make improvements. After this eye-opening situation, I joined the social volunteers and constantly help to make the world a better place.
