When my little brother died, I remember following the casket down the hall of the church into the chapel where his funeral service was going to take place. What I remember seeing had the most profound impact on my life. I remember seeing people lined in every room of the church. The chapel area was not big enough to hold the capacity of people that attended my little brother’s funeral. They had to wire audio from the chapel into the side rooms of the church to accommodate the hundreds of people that attended. We also did “One Last Ride” for Hunter that we invited all the motocross community to join and follow the hearse and Hunter to the cemetery. More than 150 riders showed up in support. They all missed important races and events just to ride with Hunter. Prior to his funeral, my family had a viewing for Hunter. A viewing is a time and place where friends and family can come show support and say their “goodbyes” to a deceased loved one. At Hunter’s viewing people stood in line for 3+ hours in the rain just to see Hunter. The line wrapped around the building and went down 3 blocks. Hundred to over a thousand wanted to show love to Hunter and my family.
I say all of this not to brag about how “popular” Hunter or our family might have been, but to paint a clear picture of how paramount people can be. The first week of Hunter’s death was the most astonishing week of my life. I saw the best of people. My parent’s house never stopped, never went quiet, and was never empty. People from everywhere consistently stopped by to visit and support my family. We watched people donate thousands in that week to help aid in funeral costs. Hunter’s picture covered our Facebook, twitter, and instagram with words of comfort and support. We never went hungry or had to worry about one meal through the entire week. We had people helping us plan the funeral, send hundreds of flowers, creating videos and pictures, and even fulfill our soda addictions daily. We were never alone. Even after a year, we are still not alone. People still stop to check in on our family and show support. On the year anniversary of Hunter’s death a banner was hung and signed and again, our door was never shut. We had people upstairs and downstairs in and out and back again. Again, I say all of this not to boast, but to explain just a small glimpse of the goodness I’ve been surrounded by.
However, people are not consistent.
In this same week I saw the best of people; I also saw the worse. I saw greed, money, and selfishness bear its ugly head. I watched my parents lose a large part of their own printing business because they didn’t choose a specific funeral service to use for Hunter’s funeral. I watched certain people envy and beg for the money we had received for selfish matters. I watched people fail to put aside the unimportant worldly matters in wake of grief and tragedy. I watched basic human compassion be forced to the background behind money and greed.
People are not consistent.
People are imperfect, irrational, and make mistakes. People are gracious, kind, and loving. People are not consistent.
This is where perspective comes in to play. Perspective-a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view. Even as I write this, it was easier to write about the good events or acts that took place because there were so many more than bad. The good outweighed the bad by far. So why is it even significant to talk about the bad? If it is so minuscule, why focus on it? As human beings it is easy to get involved in the negative, gossip, ugly and hurt, because it hurts us. Sometimes hurt is harder to overcome and leaves a deeper scar then happiness. I have noticed in my own life sometimes my perspective gets lost or distracted. There have been many times I focus on the negative or hurt I’ve felt, but when I really look at people, they are generally good. Perspective can be hard and seeing the good can sometimes be blurred; however it is there.
The good is always there.
The more you focus on the good the more you see it. The good will always outweigh the bad in any aspect of your life. I have been through hell and back. I have seen and personally felt the bad, BUT I have also seen and truly felt the good. People are not consistent and people will hurt you, but they will also support and lift you. They will bring love and laughter into your life. People and perspective is hard and remarkable. Just depends on which one you decide to embrace.
