It's no secret that a whole lot of disastrous events have occurred all around the world, especially in the past few years. Over the last four or five years or so, there have been tragedies such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the Boston Marathon bombings, the terrorists attacks in France, the murders in the Orlando nightclub, and the recent Manhattan blasts, just to name a few; I definitely don't want to keep listing specific occurrences, but I know you can agree with me that these are all frightening events.
The year of 2016 sure has been one of the most eventful ones, and there are still three months left with such a tight presidential election coming up very shortly in the United States. As an American, it's difficult for me to predict what may come for the country when the next president is inaugurated in 2017. Is ISIS going to be defeated in this next presidential term? What will happen with gun control? What about the illegal immigrants?
I surely am concerned about what's going on around the world. Yes, I know, I am still young at the age of 20. I have not seen as many touchy world events as older adults and baby boomers have; Heck, I can't say I thoroughly remember what I was doing on September 11, 2001. And, of course, I am still learning about the real world as my list of responsibilities continue to grow. But in all honesty, with what I have been around for in my two decades of life, it takes a lot to surprise me today.
See, that's not even my main struggle. As someone so young, I have always found myself struggling to voice my opinion on serious subjects. I have often had difficulty putting words together and determining if what I want to say is well said. Often, the only thing I can get myself to say is that my thoughts are with those who have been affected by whatever happened.
I think one reason why I'm so afraid to speak up is simply because I am young. There is still a lot for me to learn. I can hardly fully understand a whole lot about politics. But there are so many other reasons behind why I can't open my mouth a lot. It's also because there are people who have reasons to feel more strongly about these happenings than I do; It's not that I don't care about what goes on, because believe me, my heart gets ripped apart more and more as difficulties arise. It's just that I can't recall a time that I've seen some sort of traumatic event in real life. I also have never been extra upset about something because, for example, a group of people I identify with have been attacked. There are other people who have been physically or mentally affected by tragic events, whether they were victims or their loved ones were; Some people, like police officers and soldiers, do it in the line of duty all the time (While I'm on that idea, I would like to salute all individuals who risk their own lives so other people can continue to live theirs.). In some cases, the reason why something happened is not immediately known, and so I don't want to go ahead drawing conclusions right away.
Actions may speak louder than words, but that doesn't change the fact that words are still powerful and can have a really deep effect. I am simply too afraid that my words will really hurt someone. There are other people in the world who can put words together better than I can, and really, instead of speaking, I find it better for me to listen. Perhaps I will learn a thing or two and that will help my life experience.
