What I learnt from The Metamorphosis

One thing I learnt from Metamorphosis, the story by Kafka, is that even when we are face to face with a being that needs our help, there are times where we would prefer to sit and judge their situation. We feel disgusted. We feel shame. We feel pride. We feel uncomfortable. We feel guilty. We may even feel burdened by that other being.

One day we will all die. This is a fact of life. And, I've heard say that when seniors pass away they tend to say that their biggest mistakes are not what they did, it's what they didn't do. And with that, I am %97.5 sure that if we were to get severely sick or injured and have to be placed within our death bed, there would be a lot of things we would regret not having done. And, I'm pretty sure one of those many things would be having judged, ignored or rejected a human being that very clearly and very visibly needed our help.

There are many times when I pass a beggar and end up spending the rest of the day thinking about their circumstance or situation and thinking of ways to help. When I used to work at a little coffee shop close to my house I would always ask my boss if I could take the leftover food that was about to go to waste to the local beggar who tends to sit outside my local Sainsbury's. It's not much but at least it's something.

It is very sad when a family or friend can look right into the eyes of a person in pain and completely miss or overlook that person's situation. The poor young man who "metamorphosed" into a giant beetle was looked at by his family in pure disgust. Even after, once they had realised it was their own son, they neglected him, avoided him and found him to be a burden. The poor young man, towards the end of the story, was happy to die knowing that his family would finally find peace without him. No being should ever have to feel as though others would be at peace or find joy once they have finally passed on.

We can't always tell when a person is in need of aid or assistance. However, when we notice that a person is visibly struggling, no matter the scale, we should leap to our feet, run to them with open arms and offer whatever help and support we are capable of. And, we should do it with a heart full of love, with pure and honest intent, with a smile slapped across our face. As the 22-year-old veteran and author, John Holmes, once stated: "there is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.”