The Golden Rule

Memories are funny. Not in the laughing sort of way but in the way that you never know when they are going to be created. Or how they will impact you. You never know in life when a memory is in the making and how it effects you. In a way your life is a string of memories that make you exactly who you are. Some memories however have the power to define you and impact your life in incredible ways.
My life has had a many defining memories, some as joyous as the birth of my siblings, others bitter like the divorce of my parents. However my most impactful memory happened this summer. It was not an event that changed the way my life was, it changed the way I live it.
I was on a volunteer trip to inner-city Los Angeles. At the start of the trip we took a Prayer Tour of the city. We saw what you would expect in Los Angeles: the infamous Hollywood sign, Universal Studios,  Hollywood Boulevard, the Fashion District, Korea Town and even the Financial District. The final destination of the Prayer Tour was Skid Row. Skid Row is literally blocks and blocks of  people, homeless people. I felt so uncomfortable, like I shouldn't be there. I did not belong there after all, I thought I had nothing in common with them and that in some way they were going to harm me. Then I was told to try and look at each person how I would want to be looked at. It was the ultimate golden rule test. So I looked hard at each person taking in their situation and their appearance and then accepting them in their entirety. One by one, I looked at each person and found walls collapsing in myself. Each of those people did need and want someone to care, regardless of their situation.
From that day forward I try to not pass judgment. I  may fail sometimes but I am trying. This is a memory that has made me who I am and hopefully will stay embedded in my heart and help to define the way I look at the world.