Is This Life as We Know It

If this is something you worry about you should have been worried about it all along. Nothing has changed, we are just aware.

What change are you making?

How are you going to be PRO-ACTIVE?

How would you have stopped this?

It seems to me that the ONLY change *I* control, is making sure I raise my daughter to be a part of the solution, not the problem.
That I make sure the kids *I* interact with learn lessons that stay with them to make them better, stronger, healthier, able to cope etc.

I appreciate your frustration. I appreciate your passion. But you WILL NOT get me in a panic because bad things are happening.

I will NOT engage in fear-mongering or mass hysteria.

I will live each day believing I have a lifetime, but ensuring that I tell those around me how much I love and appreciate them should it be my last.

I will spend time on what is really important; listening to my daughter babble on about One Direction vs The Wanted instead of staying at work to finish that report.

I will live just as I have always done. The Boston Marathon, Sandy Hook, 9/11....... won't change how safe I feel in the world.

But I WILL NOT live in FEAR. I can't. Because then they DO win.

What Wild Woman said. I refuse to live in fear. I was IN NYC on September 11. My building was evacuated because it was connected to the Port Authority Bus Terminal on 42nd Street. I was not in the damaged area, but I saw the towers smoking from the highrise I was in. I have not let it define my view of the world in a negative way.

I choose to see that MOST people are good, and that retreating in fear only makes things worse. Deciding that others are unsafe will only make things worse, in my opinion. I do my best to help others when I have the opportunity. If I see people being mean, if it's not an obvious danger to me or my family, I try to call them on it. Recognize the good AND recognize the bad - a smile might change someone's bad day. A hello may connect people in a community.

Connecting with the rest of the world, our communities, other communities, etc., can help us avoid the insular "I'm right, they're wrong, they're dangerous" thing that seems to crop up and take over for the unbalanced among us.

Yes, this is life as we know it.

Work towards what exactly?
"We the people taking action" often leads to vigilantism, mob rule and lynchings.
In an attempt to find who is responsible (make someone - ANYONE pay)- many can get trampled and it's not always the guilty party.
There's a very fine line between justice and retribution/revenge/vendetta/vengeance.

You want to close the borders?
What if this was home grown terrorism?
You want to ban explosives?
SO MANY common harmless things can be made into explosives - fertilizer for one - you can't pin them ALL down.

There's nothing inherently wrong with being pro-active - but pay attention to the rule of law - it's something terrorists don't do.
Don't play into the hysteria - it doesn't help or prevent anything.

Calm down - this is just an adrenalin fed fight or flight response.

I watched the news last night with tears in my eyes. My husband held my hand. I jumped every time they showed the explosions.

I've been in the Army since before 9/11. With all that entails.

I pray that the terrorists are found quickly. God be with the investigators.

And pray for Israel. They have explosions like this every day. They go through every day in fear for their lives and families.

I don't want that for us. I don't want that.

There isn't more evil in the world now. There's more news time to cover. Many of these things you mention, the sandy hook shooting , the kid that got kidnapped neither would be more than mentioned on local news , but we have channels now devoted to news 24/7 it's news , news ,news. ALL THE TIME.
Things like this happened 30-40 yrs ago but it stayed local. It was viewed as a local problem not on national news. Things like this will always happen. No matter how illegal you make everything, or what kind of discipline you have , you will always have people that find away. The people that do these things are sick people. They are wackos. Criminals will find away to do what ever they want to do with what ever they can find. They are now saying that the bombs that were used in Boston were likely made with pressure cookers. What are you going to do out law pressure cookers???

Work for safer gun/ammo/background check legislation.

I'm encouraged by the legislators brave e ough to stand up to the NRA's money lobby. Things are changing. For the better, IMO.

I KNOW the BM wasn't a "gun" issue, but I feel it's the single most productive thing that I, as a mom can do.

Good luck!

I think you're right. We can all do something to help.
To be aware of our surroundings.
Report suspicious things & behavior.
We can't fear everything because we just can't live that way.
I think we can help others, be careful as we go about our daily lives.
Be generous & helpful of others in need when they require our assistance
Each tragedy has it's own separate issues (Sandy Hook, the child that wa
abducted from the school bus & held captive, Boston marathon
incident).
Be watchful but definitely live your lives. Don't stop living.
I wish safety but a happy life for everyone!
Hug your kids, love your family & appreciate them/your life every single
day.

How much do you want to worry about on a daily basis? No offense, but from your past questions you have a lot going on.

My life is similarly busy and while I feel for the victims, at some point I simply cannot invest myself into worrying about "the world".

As Ghandi so wisely put it: "Be the change you want in the world."

The rest of my answer is what I wrote to a similar query today:

I'm sure every one of us will have a personal reaction and response based upon our own personalities and experiences in life. It really can't be otherwise.

And still, we can all look around and learn, and as deplorable as this event is, we can notice that there are countries all around the world where violence against innocents is commonplace, where anger and retribution rule, where peace is a distant hope for desperate people barely hanging on from one day to the next. Even our own government, as enlightened as it is, and our armed forces, as brave as they are, sometimes contribute to those desperate stories. We have killed innocents, too. We have engendered outrage and violent reactions from others. We are not without blame.

I'm not one who looks for a bad guy in every corner. I could not live that way. I think it would shrivel my soul into a hard, fearful knot, from which only anger could be strong enough to emerge. I cannot live on anger. I could not have had a child myself if that's where my thinking was anchored.

So I look for ways to transform, to reframe, to understand. Why would someone hate enough to hurt innocent strangers? There's a tragic story there. What can we do about tragedy? Plenty. Find the seeds of it in our own attitudes, and weed them out. There are movements and organizations that practice reconciliation, that need our voices, our energy, and our dollars.

You know, this question hits home for me.
On Sunday, one poster asked what we could do to help prevent young women from getting raped. (underage drinking was addressed). I was pretty unhappy with my first answer and then received two emails yesterday, both petitions for investigations into the sexual assaults of two different young girls and the subsequent publicizing of those crimes online via social media, the cyberbullying and suicide. I did end up writing a rather lengthy post on my own blog with some of the steps of prevention which start at home and are augmented by both the schools and the criminal justice system.

Overall, that's the contribution I can make, today. Being a present parent who is involved and engaged, teaching my son to respect all people and educating him as he grows up on his responsibilities is important. My being a responsible parent and holding myself accountable for how we prepare him to be in the world is also important. I'll start with *me* to make the world a better place. That's the first, best place to start.

Yes, this is life as we know it and I totally agree with Amy J. Boundaries are so imporant.

You want to make a difference? Volunteer your time somewhere, anywhere. Be a coach, be a tutor. Cook at a soup kitchen, give blankets to a women's shelter, drive a senior to the store, call the local food pantry and see what they need. See if there's an after school program - do they need volunteers, equipment? If no program, ask if you can set one up or talk to youth groups in your area.

Google is your friend and can at least get you started with what's available in your area. .

The worst thing anyone can do is sit there and wring their hands over this. That doesn't do anyone any good.

I'm not sure there is more evil, I think with the 24 hour news cycle we hear about the evil so much more.

I have raised my children to believe that being an American is a privilege and citizenship has a responsibility. We vote in EVERY election. Big or small because ALL government impacts our lives. My son joined the Army National Guard. We believe in the right to bear arms, and do.

There are sick and twisted evil people in this world who don't care about anything but causing chaos and mayhem.

I was heart sick when I heard about Boston yesterday. But I refuse to live my life in fear. That is how we show these evil people that no matter what happens, we Americans pull together and unite. When the chips are down, we Americans will be there for each other and help the wounded and grieving families.

This morning, I did what I always do, got up, put my pants on and went to work. I win not evil!

I think this is more than just normal evil happening, at least in our country. We do need to take a stand. I'm a member of one million moms and sign petitions to help keep our children from being influenced by the media and their schools to be pressured into having sex at an early age. I believe our country is not as safe and secure as it once was. I believe we need to turn to God and His Truth which is what this great country was founded on, and the reason why this country became so prosperous.

I don't deny that there has always been evil, pain and suffering. I'm just saying that it is getting worse.