The Tri-Lite

Issue date: 2/2/10 Section: Opinion

Originally, this space was going to be reserved for a short article about the different New Year's resolutions staff and students have made and their plans for sticking to them. The topic was meant to be lighthearted and fun, but the recent events in Haiti have hit me at such a personal level, I can't bring myself to write about such a lighthearted topic. However, I am not completely abandoning the New Year's resolution theme, for the tragedy that has befallen Haiti has influenced, if not completely changed, my initial New Year's resolution. I have a friend who I jokingly and lovingly refer to as my "Haitian brotha from anotha motha." We met in sophomore year of high school and have been close ever since. That is, until he and I parted ways to attend Haverford College and Holy Family University, respectively. We talked sparingly through Facebook, but I felt and saw him grow distant and warp into a person that I didn't believe to be as humble, honest, and affectionate as I had always known him to be. Growing irritated and annoyed, I decided that I wasn't going to try and hold onto someone who wasn't there like he had been before. In my heart and soul, I knew I didn't hate him, I just couldn't let myself keep getting hurt from being ignored. I felt as if he was forgetting his true self and his Philly roots. When the quake struck Haiti, my prayers immediately went out to his family members still living on the island. One thing I failed to realize was that, his true roots are in Haiti. Almost a week after the quake struck, I received an Instant Message from my girlfriend: Jen, Ralph was in Haiti when it happened. Instantly, my heart dropped to the floor. I stared at the computer screen, completely numb. Thoughts of the worst kind ran through my mind at lightning speed. Thankfully, her next message read: They found him and are working on a way to get him home. I wish I could say that I instantly felt better and continued on with my life now that I knew the worst hadn't happened, but I was still numb. What if I had lost him? What if he was gone forever, a victim of Mother Nature's unmerciful attack? My last thoughts toward him would have been anger and he would have never known how much I still care about him, despite the distance that has grown between us these past months. That's when I looked at my life and all of the things I complain about on a daily basis. I looked at the reasons I was holding this grudge against him and realized that, in the greater scheme of things, it was a waste of my energy to be so focused on negative thoughts and feelings. At the very moment I knew he was alive and well, my New Year's resolution changed. I'm not going to hold grudges anymore. I'm not going to drown my heart and mind in negativity. I will do my best to stop complaining about the unimportant things in life. I will learn to be more selfless and try my hardest to stay on good terms with the people in my life, no matter what the distance. I was lucky enough to have this one chance to make things right, but I know there is no guarantee that I will be this lucky again. If you, my reader, are harboring any negativity within you, I implore you to look within yourself and see if it is truly worth the energy. If it isn't, let it go, fix what is broken and fill the voids between you and that person because you may realize how much you still care for them when it's too late.

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