Joe Doe’s ninth task is about recognizing how fortunate you really are.
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TASK #9: The Fortunate Son
Everything hurts. Michelangelo Antonioni
Your life is crummy? Runnin’ short of luck? Your job blows? Credit card maxed-out? Your woman leave you for a mall masseuse?
You sick and tired of being sick and tired?
You team lost? You feel fat? Your car acting up? The IRS crawlin’ up your ass?
You short on rent? Your computer crash? You got a lump on your
Life can really blow. It can just suck the joy out of living. But guess what, dude? As bad as it is, and much as it sucks, you have it better than someone else.
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Life can really blow. It can just suck the joy out of living. But guess what, dude? As bad as it is, and much as it sucks, you have it better than someone else.
And you’re going to see it in person.
TASK:
This week you are going to look in on some men who have it worse than you. You HAVE to volunteer, or at least visit, one of the following locations:
1) Hospital. Find the emergency room waiting area. Sit down for a few hours. The cross-section of citizens that passes through will amaze you. The flotsam and jetsam of humanity roll in and out like the tide–and believe me, you don’t want to be in their shoes…
2) Homeless shelter. Shelter is a basic human need. Many men don’t have it, so they go to homeless shelters. Go to one and help out or just sit and watch.
3) County Home. Fun places where aging men without means, or family, or both are institutionalized.
4) School for the mentally challenged. Is it blissful not to know that you’re one of the disenfranchised? I don’t think so.
5) Orphanage or foster home.
6) Hospice.
7) Or drunk tank, skid row, or mental health institute.
You make the call. Then come home and write about it.
If you have a comment, feel free to write me at [email protected]
Photo by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade