I’m a senior in high school. Next year I leave home, leave my family, venture out on my own. Although I have been preparing for this my entire life, I can’t shake the feeling that I will never be entirely ready to let go. I need my family. I need my parents. They have always taken care of me and in a way they always will. By choosing to put me on this Earth they have taken the responsibility of always caring for me, always supporting me, always worrying about me. They have given up a portion of themselves to care for my brother and me. As I grow older, so do they. They will be giving until they die. Now, when they have spread themselves too thin and need love and support it is my responsibility to take care of them. It is my turn to give. They deserve to be treated with kindness and respect. This is my moral and civic responsibility. Although it may seem obscure, this is how I feel about water.
Since the birth of humanity, we have survived on water. We need it for all aspects of life, much like a child needs her mother. It is a part of us that can never go away. As we can see now though, we are abusing it. Our precious resource in diminishing because we have become greedy. Because we take more than we need, water is unable to sustain itself at the same time. We are not taking care of it the way it has taken care of us for thousands of decades. Our moral and civic responsibilities are to treat our resources with kindness and respect. Water has nurtured us for a long time. It is our turn to give back. We will always need water, but as we mature we may realize that we need less than we did when we were younger. As I grow older I realize that I can do things on my own that my parents have always helped me with. As humanity progresses, we realize that with technological advances, we can reduce the amount of water we use. I will always need my parents, but I am now old enough to give back. Anything that gives us life should be treated with kindness.
