Rebecca Sparrow: "You think we're going to stay home? We're not."

We are living our lives – eating a roast chicken dinner, helping with homework, on the phone to our grandparents, watching House of Cards, pegging out clothes, arguing about pick ups and drops offs with our spouse – when evil barges in.

We had forgotten for a moment, become complacent and then it hits. Another terrorist attack jolts us out of our reality and the shock (‘What? Where? How many?’) turns to sadness, as we think, ‘Please not again.’ We go to bed with our hearts broken and our spirits wilted for the people of Belgium.

On nights like last night and days like today – it can feel like they’re winning. I know. Islamic State keep going. They’re not stopping. It feels like they’re winning.

But I am here to remind myself as much as you – that they are not. They are not winning.

It is we who are the victors. It is all of us who continue to get out of bed and get dressed and catch planes and trains and buses. It is all of us who continue to book holidays and travel and see the world. We are fiercely, stubbornly optimistic. Right?

It is us who refuse to be scared; who refuse to sit at home, huddled together in fear, frightened by what is outside the door. Screw that.

You know what President Obama did just hours after the terrorist attacks? He went to a baseball game in Havana, Cuba. You know why? Because he said “the whole premise of terrorism is to disrupt people’s lives.” And quite simply we – all of us – simply refuse to comply. You think we’re going to stay home? Think again.

They are not winning. We are winning.

And on days like today, on weeks like this one, when we’re feeling despair at the world, when we want to show the people of Belgium that we are in their corner – it’s more important than ever to respond to those terrorist attacks in the most damning, powerful way possible: by being a force for good.

Check in on your elderly neighbour. Give all those clothes you no longer wear to a homeless or domestic violence shelter. Cook a meal for a friend. Grab your pals and cook a meal for the families at Ronald McDonald House. Adopt a pet from a shelter. Support Welcome To Australia. Sign up to Givit. Buy a spare pack of tampons and pads for homeless women via Share The Dignity. Help Constance Hall build a new home for abused girls in Kenya. Doorknock for the Red Cross. Donate money to Syria’s refugees. Volunteer for Meals on Wheels. Invite a friend for dinner and ask, “Are you okay?” And every time there is an act of terror – let’s share the stories of goodness, of people helping people, of bravery and courage and kindness.

And when we talk about Islamic State let’s make it clear in all of our conversations that they are a small, fringe group of around 100,000 recruits who do not represent the Islamic faith or Muslim people.

Are you thinking 100,000 seems like a lot?

Then remember there are seven billion people on this planet – SEVEN BILLION – and the vast majority of those seven billion people are good. They are good women and men, good husbands and wives, good brothers and sisters; they are good, kind, decent human beings who want to live a peaceful life.

WE are the majority.

They are not winning. Not by a long shot.

We stand with you, Belgium.