Trissa posted some really insightful thoughts as part of the ongoing conversation in another thread. I wanted to repost them at the start of a new thread
I guess what I was trying to say is that most of us who are in a serving profession got there because of idealism. A soldiers idealism is patriotism or wanting to spread freedom (I’m somewhat assuming, somewhat going on what I know from my brother who is in the Airforce). A social worker’s ideal is to help people who are less fortunate. A teacher wants to open their students up the opportunities around them (my mom and sister are teachers). So we run on idealism, but it only gets us so far. A soldier sees death, pain, suffering and sees no positive outcomes. A social worker sees one client after another who’s unwilling to change their life circumstances. The teacher has to deal with unmotivated students and absent parents. Slowly the idealism erodes and one day your ideals seem far away and naive. I think as one sees suffering and pain without relief it’s hard to believe in anything.
So often people in my profession push it aside and don’t think about how what they see affects them. I assume it’s the same as a soldier. If you think about it you might find the last of your idealism slip away and the foundation that once brought about all decisions is gone.
05-24-2007 |
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