(Photo from theprosperos.com)
by John Atwater, H.W.
It was just after Christmas and I was enjoying one of my gifts. It was a book called Life on Earth. It had a green and yellow cover. It had all the different types of life with chapters about all the different life forms. It had lots of pictures. I looked at mostly the animals. It had whales and all sizes of fish. It had tigers, wolves, foxes, deer and rabbits. I enjoyed the pictures and reading about the different creatures. After a while, I realized that the predators were killing and eating many of the animals. Small fish got eaten by the medium fish and in turn, were done in by larger fish. I just started thinking of all the killing, bloodshed, and carnage. I got a bit upset and sad about it all. I went and told my mom I did not like the book so much anymore and explained why. Just so much killing, blood, and death.
She listened and thought quietly for a bit. She said “It is true that all things that live also die. But everything is born, grows up, and lives many, many days. One day they die or are killed, but that is just one day or just one moment. They all live so many, many days and die on just one. There is so much more life than death if you see it that way! The world is filled with life!”
I sat and thought about what she said. It made sense. I felt so much better for all the creatures. I felt so much better about life and the world. I was no longer a bit sad or upset. I felt better myself. It was so weird that you could see things in a different way and that had a huge result on your feelings. I liked the book again. This is the first time I can remember that as I changed my way of looking, so much changed. I realized you have to be thoughtful about the way you look, and that there just might be a better way of looking at the world than your first perspective. Thanks, Mom!
