Prompt: What matters to you and why?
I was brought up and raised primarily in Beirut, Lebanon, a city rich in beauty and magnificence, but unfortunately for many of its residents it is also a land where poverty is a way of life. I am one of the lucky few that have never had to suffer the pains of an empty stomach, the hardships of a low income or the agonies of having to survive in terrible living conditions. However, in my opinion, one of the causes for this state of decline our communities live in is that we spend our time lingering in the past.
To quote Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Love In The Time Of Cholera", "That is how they were: they spent their lives proclaiming their proud origins, the historic merits of the city, the value of its relics, its heroism, its beauty, but they were blind to the decay of the years". In many aspects, Marquez's Colombia is very much similar to my Beirut. Like the Colombians in Marquez's novel, the people of my country live in the past to avoid present discomfort and to evade its political and social problems. Rather than living in the past, it is essential that the people of Lebanon focus their efforts on modifying the future, for it is a realm filled with hope, promise and potential for glorious days that lie ahead.
There are many challenges facing my country today: We are constantly bickering over age-old problems, the nation is at constant war, numerous people do not have an education to back up their choices and the thousands that go to bed every night with an empty stomach are ignored. Since my future is intermingled with that of my country's, then the only way for us to prosper is if the privileged sacrifice what they have to help the deprived succeed in overcoming the difficulties of life. The real challenge we face today, is that we must realize, as a nation and as individuals capable of serving the community, that there can only be so much to go around, and that the key to thrive is our will to relieve ourselves from the ceaseless fighting in hopes of recovering from the ashes of conflict to make sure that no one, nowhere, and at no time should go hungry.
PS: Please someone offer help with the title!
I was brought up and raised primarily in Beirut, Lebanon, a city rich in beauty and magnificence, but unfortunately for many of its residents it is also a land where poverty is a way of life. I am one of the lucky few that have never had to suffer the pains of an empty stomach, the hardships of a low income or the agonies of having to survive in terrible living conditions. However, in my opinion, one of the causes for this state of decline our communities live in is that we spend our time lingering in the past.
To quote Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Love In The Time Of Cholera", "That is how they were: they spent their lives proclaiming their proud origins, the historic merits of the city, the value of its relics, its heroism, its beauty, but they were blind to the decay of the years". In many aspects, Marquez's Colombia is very much similar to my Beirut. Like the Colombians in Marquez's novel, the people of my country live in the past to avoid present discomfort and to evade its political and social problems. Rather than living in the past, it is essential that the people of Lebanon focus their efforts on modifying the future, for it is a realm filled with hope, promise and potential for glorious days that lie ahead.
There are many challenges facing my country today: We are constantly bickering over age-old problems, the nation is at constant war, numerous people do not have an education to back up their choices and the thousands that go to bed every night with an empty stomach are ignored. Since my future is intermingled with that of my country's, then the only way for us to prosper is if the privileged sacrifice what they have to help the deprived succeed in overcoming the difficulties of life. The real challenge we face today, is that we must realize, as a nation and as individuals capable of serving the community, that there can only be so much to go around, and that the key to thrive is our will to relieve ourselves from the ceaseless fighting in hopes of recovering from the ashes of conflict to make sure that no one, nowhere, and at no time should go hungry.
PS: Please someone offer help with the title!
