Things we love make up who we are and defines our life. Earlier this year a conversation sparked on Facebook regarding how bad traffic is in Los Angeles area. And anyone who ever lived in LA area won’t dare to argue with that. If you’re still not sure, click on the chart to right.
This conversation prompted comments about how much we love our cars. One commenter did say that he was being sarcastic about his comment saying how much people love driving their car but to me, love of my car is never a sarcastic topic because I genuinely love my car.
‘My college girlfriend used to ask me regularly which I loved more, her or my car’
That’s back then when I still had my first car, my true love, and my first wife. (And my current wife understand that there’s no competition) My first car was 1995 Chevy Cavalier convertible. This beautiful dual camshaft blue and white convertible was my baby and my everything. I believe at least half of my expandable spending went to my car. I still remember the sad day when I had to let her retire. She was 14 years old and started to cost too much to maintain frequent break downs. I had a lot of work done on the car by then including wave-style full body kit, 1,000 watts stereo system, two visor TVs, array of neon light works inside and out of the car including strobe lights that mimics one of undercover cop. When the time came and I had to give up my baby, I chose not to remove any accessories or equipment from the car even though I was allowed to take out any aftermarket parts according to the sales agreement. I didn’t want to see my car looking stripped, at least not where I can see it.
My baby… in her early days
We all have things or people we love and feel strongly about. Things we care for and emotions that represents our love define who we are. And what we love shows as a reflection from us, shining through. Since I was young, I was always interested in helping those in need and conserving our environment. While I’m no tree huger in a real sense, I did always take interest in what Greenpeace does and was a renewing member for a while. And then life started to happen. Little by little, life throws different obstacles at you and you get busy with things. It starts with college, girls, finding a job, friends, social life, partying, girls again, and ends with trying to find who you are and being able to find who you want to be. Through all the busyness of life, we are quick to forget about other people who are not as lucky as we are.
We often think because we were able to handle all those obstacles that life threw at us, we deserve the good life we have. And when we see people who are having hard time, instead of feeling compassion, we often blame them for not working as hard as we did when those obstacles were thrown at them. And maybe that’s a part of it. But the truth is we really don’t know until we ask them and hear their stories.
That’s why when an idea of starting a Charity was first introduced, I jumped on it. I felt like this was the chance for me to do little good in my life. Before starting Clear Charity, I have not made major donation nor volunteered for few years. Don’t get me wrong. You won’t normally think that about me. I’m a gentleman who will hold door open for you and first to help grandma to stow her luggage in an airplane. But I haven’t reached out to help anyone because I was so busy living my life. And I realized that more and more you concentrate on your busy life, you’ll lose your chance to be whole.
More and more you concentrate on your busy life, you’ll lose your chance to be whole.
During the one year of preparing and researching before starting Clear Charity, I sparked conversations with many people around me about charity work and donations. Most people were similar to me in that they have done little or no charity work but had lots of opinions instead. However, I found out that one lady in my office donates with her church and sponsors children in Africa in fight against child hunger. She told me that she tries to sponsor one new kid every year and hopes one day to invite them to visit her house when she can afford such event. I didn’t tell her at that time but I was deeply impressed when I heard that story. I realized that without showing or bragging to anyone, she has done so much more than I have ever dreamed of and I have found a new respect for her. That story truly encouraged me to continue my journey in starting Clear Charity.
As we embark this brand new adventure called Clear Charity, we aim to help those in need and hope to awake good inside of everyone around us. We are now in our third month in operation and already started two programs (about to start second one) with over 200+ followers. They all say first year is hardest for a new Charity Organization as they try to secure minimum funds that will allow them to keep funding the programs.
Thinking of all my past challenges I overcame in my life, I jump into this new unknown challenge. But this time, I know I’m not alone. We are doing this together, as team Clear Charity.
