Bad things happen to good people too
No one is exempt from adversity, even good people are presented with difficulties despite their good hearts, yet courage and hope are their greatest weapons in facing any obstacle. Moreover, their thoughts are always focused on the learning that this difficult circumstance will leave them.
The world is full of evil, a clear example of which is terrorism whose main objective is to instil fear through threats, murder and weapons. In this way, they gain power over the population so that they obey their orders, altering coexistence and everyone’s lifestyle.
“Terrorists try to modify our behavior by provoking fear, uncertainty and division in society.”
Patrick J. Kennedy
In 2017, specifically on August 17, Spain was the victim of two terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils. In the attacks, 15 people died and 131 were injured. Events like this occur every day in various parts of planet Earth, killing dozens of people, including children and the elderly.
Psychologists Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon and Tom Pyszczynski, experts on terrorism, say that these types of events change people’s lives, and they tend to come together in the face of adverse situations by setting in motion cultural mechanisms of survival.
In the union is the strength
Social networks are mass media, they are also used by terrorism. Currently a group of people avoided the dissemination of violent images through kitten publications, thus decreasing the popularity in networks of organizations like ISIS.
In Spain after the 2017 attacks, Barcelona’s residents offered food and lodging to anyone who needed it, and also set up free transportation and information points to minimize the chaos. This is a demonstration that human beings can feel fragile and vulnerable in the blink of an eye, this feeling leads to altruistic acts that dignify us and teach us to be better.
Minimize and Maximize
In situations of chaos it is necessary to put into practice two types of responses, which allow us to face the situation assertively.
- Minimize: decrease the display of photos or videos of terrorist violence. Share other types of images and keep up to date only through words. Also, keep your mind free of hate and thoughts of revenge that only fuel negativity.
- Maximize: acts of service and support to others. Contributes to the dissemination of positive messages of solidarity and compassion. Help with things needed to alleviate the situation: donating blood, shelter, water, food, transportation.
Bad things happen to good people too, but the difference is that they will always find the best way to get out of it, with a language of kindness and love that violence does not know.
In the comments section you can write your opinions about this topic and how you would put your grain of sand to help in this type of situation.