There's a lot of negativity in the world, especially in the news. It's easy to display your opinion as fact and to become upset with those who have a different opinion. It's also easy to debate with others who simply like the act of debating, thus judging and belittling others, without any positive action potentially coming out of said debate. There are far too many that don't understand a world outside their own personal bubble, and even more dangerous, those that simply don't care to understand it. Have an open mind people, and before we start pointing fingers at "the government" or "the politicians" or those places and people on the other side of the country or the other side of the oceans, realize that those aren't *things* but people. We are all people, and we need each other. Seclusion can deteriorate and kill a species, and even though there are billions of humans on this earth, we are secluding ourselves in other ways. The very advances in communication that were meant to bring us together are now giving us reasons to cast each other out and segregate each other. We group people into categories and decide if we like them or not, if we will listen to them or not, if we will help them or not and if we will be nice to them or not. What we should be doing is realizing we are all in the same category. We are all humans, capable of thinking and feeling and acting. We all have valuable opinions that should be heard. We all deserve help in our time of need without any expectations of a return favor. We all deserve a smile and a "How are you today?" because that can make a difference. Anger is such an easy emotion. It's easy to feel, easy to justify and easy to act on. It's easy to use as a weapon. It's easier to talk about and to talk with, easier to debate on and way too easy to teach. It takes little time to be angry but a lot of energy, leaving us with the false feeling of accomplishment that we have done something productive, when we have really just helped destroy ourselves a little more. What's hard is to listen - the real listening, without the thinking in your own head of your own thoughts and own opinions and own response while the other person is still talking. It's hard to listen, to attempt to understand what the other person is saying, to ask questions to clarify what you don't understand. In a given conversation, how many times do you say the word "I"? Count them next time. Just by taking that word out of the equation can turn talking into a conversation. When was the last time you felt genuinely happy for someone, or gave them a genuine compliment? When was the last time you didn't talk about yourself but kept turning the conversation onto the other person - not just to do it, but because you actually wanted to hear them? And was it good news they were sharing, or was it something evoking anger, injustice, or sadness? I don't watch the news. It's depressing. I read the news, sometimes, but I'm careful of what articles to read. I used to Twitter, but it's an awful place full of disparaging (albeit witty) comments. I do use Facebook, a lot, because I have family and friends on there, and if I don't want to see something, I can choose not to see it. I do my best to surround myself and my family with good people, and I'm happy to report that there are a lot of them out there. There is ugly in the world, and I realize that a world with only beauty simply cannot exist. Without the ugly, how will we appreciate the beauty? How would we learn from the ugly in order to help future generations?
You can call me a hippie, delusional, or unrealistic. I agree with all of it. But it's not about me. It's about my children and how I am teaching them to see the world and other people. I want them to see more than the corn fields that surround their quaint little country town. I want them to look at the corn and know that there is a world out beyond them, a giant, beautiful world, full of joy and controversy, the good and the bad. I want them to know that their attitude has a lot of power and that it impacts others to a much greater extent than they realize. I want them to use that power for good and to make a difference where one is needed. And I want them to know they can make that difference without bringing others down, without waging a war, without stepping on their fellow humans as a sacrifice for the greater good.
Now if you excuse me, I'm going to put on my rose-colored glasses and go out and enjoy this beautiful life.
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