Be the Solution

Tonight I was out with a friend of mine enjoying the city and each other’s conversation. We talked about the problems in the world such as poverty, hatred, individualism, consumerism, and the list could go on and on. After our time in the city we got on the bus to go home and while we waited for it to take off from the terminal I had an enlightening moment.

While we were sitting talking two girls got on the bus and began to explain to the bus driver that they only had one ticket. It was clear that the bus driver was not about to give someone a free ride and the girls started to get upset. Just as this was happening, in my mind I was thinking, wow, I wonder how this situation is going to play out. It was like I was watching this unfold before as though it were a movie. I might as well have had a bag of popcorn in my hand. When the drama was ready to climax I leaned over to my friend without taking my eyes off the action and began to say, “Oh man, this is gonna be….” and before I could finish my sentence my buddy was already half way up the isle of the bus on his way to paying for this girls ticket. The instance I saw him get up I was angry with myself for not seeing this as an opportunity to show some generosity and love as quickly as he had. There was almost no hesitation, he saw a problem and he saw how he could solve it. After being upset with myself I then had to laugh because taking action was the furthest thought from my mind.

Don’t get me wrong, I would have been perfectly willing to pay for this girl’s ticket. The issue here is that taking action was the furthest thing from my mind. I was not about to take action, I was a spectator. It was like I was watching a sporting event. I wasn’t about to run out onto the field and make the play, that wasn’t my role. But as soon as my friend got up I realized that this is my role. I’m not a spectator in life, I’m a player!

I started to wonder how often I miss opportunities to show love because of this spectator mentality. I know that I love other people, but the truth is that we cannot love others from afar. Love doesn’t just sit back and watch, love acts. I want to be someone who acts, the way my friend did tonight.

As an attempt at this I have decided to latch onto this phrase for the next little while; Be the solution. I’m not going to look for the solution, or wait for the solution to appear. I want to be the solution. I want to be a player in the lives of others, not a spectator. I don’t want to wait to get invited into the game of life, because the truth is that I’m already in the game.