A few days ago I was shopping with my daughter and her friend. We were leaving the store and a Salvation Army bell ringer started talking to the girls. He asked if they would like to donate to a worthy cause. He told them that he once benefited from the generosity of young ladies such as themselves. He was assisted by the Salvation Army when he was homeless and hungry. He said that he now has hope and that he looks forward to the holidays. He said that he volunteered his time to ring the bell so that others might have the same opportunities he has. I gave the girls $1 each and told them they could either donate the dollar to help other boys and girls like them have a present to open on Christmas morning or they could take the dollar and buy the candy they had been asking for. My daughter’s friend put her dollar in the red pot immediately, but my daughter just stood there. I looked at her as my heart sank. I knew that she did not want to giver her dollar away, but was feeling pressured by what her friend had done. She eventually said that she would give the dollar but she still wanted the candy. I talk to my daughter often about the lack of food and shelter other children have available to them. She always seems very sympathetic, but I realized that as long as we are only talking, and not doing, she will never fully understand. I plan to make her volunteer at a local shelter over the holidays. This was defiantly a frog in the water moment for me!

The best way to alleviate or avoid "frog-in-the-water" syndrome is to find a greater cause to occupy your thoughts and guide your actions. One of the best ways to do that is by turning your attention to others and their needs. It is amazing how even a small act of service awakens a deeper understanding of others and their circumstances. If you ever feel like you are out of touch with people, go and do something for someone!

Frog in the water syndrome...interesting analogy and it makes sense. Are we adjusting to the point where we lose sight of what's important? I remember my sister working in a customer service related job for the post office. She got a phone call from a woman frantic, crying that her christmas gifts have not made it to her home and it was 2 days before christmas. She went on and on about how horrible her christmas would be and how it was practically ruined. My sister (who I admit is a smart-alecky kinda girl) responded with something like, "sorry about your packages but that's not what christmas is about really, now is it?" Must admit, it's not what we would call good customer service but I have to say I was proud of her response. Sadly enough, this is the mindset that most people have about the holidays and in my opinion losing sight of what's really important. Meanwhile, there are people all over the world who are happy knowing this season they haven't lost a child to malaria, their husbands haven't gone off to war or gone to find work in the city far from families and their mothers and daughters haven't left selling their bodies for money to feed the family. I don't want to adapt to my environment so much that I lose sight of what it is I have and what it is I need to give.

i've had two friends have babies that were born with severe problems recently - one had a stroke and the other was born with premature and ended up on a ventilator. without proper healthcare, both would probably have died. they're both fine because they were born in the US. in other parts of the world ... who knows.