Helplessness

I think the worst feeling in the world is helplessness, either for yourself, somebody else or another creature. It turns my stomach. It is how I feel when Java is in pain or when I find a baby bird that has fallen out of the nest and I don't know where to put him back. It's also how I feel when I find out my vet's husband has brain cancer or when a friend of mine has lung cancer. It gnaws at my insides. I think "maybe if I send some money," but no, that doesn't help the individual. There is nothing I can do and I hate it. I want to take away the suffering and I can't. I want to wipe out the disease and I can't. I want to reunite the baby bird with its parents and I can't.