The Tribune

By BIANCA CARTER

IT’S funny that by nature most of us wrap ourselves up in our own little world, safe and doing our own little thing, and living within the confines of our own situations and circumstances.

The circumstances that we face every day are sometimes draining, upsetting, sad and frustrating.

We all have our own issues, I get it. In our minds they feel like big issues and sometimes they are; it’s a part of life. But every once in a while you’ll get a glimpse of what other people are going through, their pain, their challenges, their fears, their stress and their worry, and in an instant you realise that your own issues are sometimes nothing compared to theirs, and in fact, you have no idea what it’s like to walk in their shoes.

If you watched TV or picked up a world news publication at all last week you would have seen the heartbreaking images of Syrian migrants and their children struggling and fighting their way to a better life.

Sure, Syria is not the only country in the world that has these struggles; in our own backyard we hear stories of the heartbreak and pain of people fleeing their country in the hopes of a better life for their family. But seeing images of drowned children washing up on the shore of a beach shook me to my core, infuriated me and broke my heart.

Like so many others, I watched a father helplessly explain how he lost both his boys and wife while trying to save them, but couldn’t.

A pain and fear most of us know nothing about, a pain we are blessed not to have to face because we happen to be one of the lucky ones that were born in a part of the world that doesn’t have genocide, isn’t riddled with war, a place that isn’t fighting for hundreds of year over religious beliefs. To call that lucky is a gross understatement. Their circumstances and issues make our problems and circumstances look small and bearable.

I read a poignant post on Facebook written by a mother, Maz Pedersen, in it she states that we simply “don’t know” what it’s like to go through such traumatic events, and she’s completely right, we have no idea.

I can’t bear to imagine the horror of such events. How utterly disgusting is it that there are reports of human smugglers taking advantage of someone’s misfortune and circumstance, taking money from Syrian refugees in return for an unfounded promise of safety, hope and happiness.

How powerful those images; seeing the suffering of children in particular sparked so many beautiful acts of kindness all over the world. I suppose every situation does have a silver lining as millions of people had a dramatic response to the situation.

Countries like Germany have welcomed some of the Syrian migrants, bearing gifts and applauding them as they entered. The United Kingdom has also relaxed its immigrant policies as a result. Even ordinary people like you and me have chosen to donate to the cause through the Save the Children Foundation, savethechildren.org.uk. Stories like this help restore our faith in humanity, doesn’t it?

The point is, every one of us go through hard and difficult situations. We are all battling with something, but try to put things into perspective every once in a while. Those images did that for me. Every time I feel defeated, overwhelmed, stressed and burdened, a little birdie sends me a gift, an image that makes me realise that there are so many other people that are fighting really heard battles I know nothing about, and I realise how truly blessed I am and I’m so grateful for that realisation. Let’s be grateful together.

Love and hugs!

(Sources: msn.com; bbc.com)

• Bianca Carter is a certified lactation counsellor (CLC), founder of Bun in the Oven, and weekend radio personality on Y98 radio. For more information, email her at info@babybunintheoven.com, or bcarter@tribunemedia.net. Follow BITO® on Facebook at babybunintheoven, and check out the BITO Blog every Monday and Thursday at http://babybunintheoven.com.