In the wake of all of these terrible things that have happened in our world in the last few weeks, I wanted to stray away from normal and dive into something different.

What happened to common human compassion?

Now, I know writing about this may rub some people the wrong way, and I should warn those people now to refrain from reading this article. My hope is that those who read this will pass along this along, and hopefully we can do our small part in making the world a better place.

So what really has happened to compassion in this world? More specifically, compassion in the United States. We have become so driven with self-success that we forget as a society the common goal of making this life a better life to live for our family, friends, children, children's children, etc. But it is not just people in general that have caused us to change so much. The world is set up so that you have to be selfish and not care for others, or push people aside to ascend to the top of your career/sport/organization and reach your goals. It is no longer just hard work that can get you there. This mindset is causing people to care less about others, and do whats needed to gain our own success. Obviously, not every situation is the same, and there are some instances where hard work will get you where you want to be, but I am talking about the majority of the time to reach your ultimate goal.

So what can we do to change it? I know this mindset will not change overnight. However, we as individuals can make an effort to be more compassionate in everyday life. I am talking about holding the door open for someone (you laugh, but this is something so easy that people cannot take the time to do because of whatever reason), pay for a Starbucks for the person behind you, pick up a piece of trash if you see it on the ground, or just generally help someone in need. If more people engage in small, kind acts like this, maybe someone else will see it and it will motivate them to do the same.

My hope (and understand, I know it is a lot of hope) is that as more people begin to be the humans our parents and teachers raised us to be. Maybe, if more people partook in acts that helped others, there would be less suicides, less mass shootings, or less acts of domestic violence. This may be one mans opinion, but too many times I have seen the cause of such horrific acts be because of bullying, or reactions to violence inflicted on an individual from parents or loved ones. Lets change the narrative. Let us attempt to make the world a better place to live in, one person at a time. Let's pay it forward when someone does something kind for us.

I understand that writing this message is not going to change the world. My hope is that whoever reads this can pass along the message, share this article, and make an effort to be kind and maybe make it a goal to do five nice things for different people a week. We can make a change -- one person at a time. So if you have made it this far in the article, understand that we are all humans and things can get hard for anybody. So lend a hand when someone is in need and pass along this message to family and friends. I hope that this will bring awareness to a problem that seems so simple to fix.