There was a time during my childhood when someone once asked
me, ‘If you could have any imaginary superpower, which one would you want?’ I
wanted the power to read people’s minds. I wanted to see their perception on
everything and to understand their thought processes. I desperately wanted to
know others better. Our innermost thoughts abandon pretense.
These days, I shake my head frantically. I‘d like to take
that back. I no longer want to know what others think. I no longer want to know
what their thought processes are. It’s ugly, it’s hateful, it’s disingenuous,
it’s environmentally calibrated and plagiaristic, it’s credulous, it’s
uninvestigated candor, it’s anecdotal, but it’s mostly wrong. My opinion is my conviction,
and your opinion is your belief. However, whether we want to admit it or not,
it’s fragmented!
People, no one is going to change your mind, and no one will
change mine. But here’s the reveal: You don’t have to argue, you don’t have to
shout it from the roof tops, and you don’t have to spread the media’s version
of a story. You can keep your biased opinions to yourself. You can keep your
facts to yourself. We’re all capable of making our own judgments based on
research, not the lies we pass around like disease. That disease becomes a
virus. How do we stop a virus? How do you prevent your neighbor from doing
something they have the right to do? WE CAN’T!
How do we want to be remembered?
Do we really want to be the generation that causes
dissension among our own peers? Do we really want to be the source for future quarrels
and cantankerous social separation? We are teaching our children that blasting
our opinion somehow makes a difference. We’re in an era of change, people. So
far, we aren’t faring well.
Why isn’t our generation moving toward peaceful acceptance
of other opinions? Haven’t we done this already? Let’s reveal our voice through
affirmative action not repulsive behavior. Does our negativity change others?
Do our outlooks alter another’s perception? Do we really want to be another
generation remembered for hate, for injustice, for a lack of sympathy? Didn’t
the former generations do that enough? Do we want to be remembered as the
generation that started the social civil war? What are we leaving behind? What
will our children have to clean up? They’ll be repairing our ailing and cynical
world. We started this! We did this! Will they even be able to mend our mess?
Will our human connection be so broken that hate will be indoctrinated?
How much societal mutilation can we possibly endure? Our
children need to smack us in the face and scream, ‘ENOUGH’. Let’s stop the
destruction, stop the separation, and stop the hate. Stop the
misrepresentations and the spreading of the verbal disease that is currently
overtaking our virtual world. It’s filtering into real life. People are hating
people for their unpopular beliefs. And the two sides really don’t even know
each other.
I understand the concept that, “I don’t care what people think of
me.” YOU SHOULD. We should know our brothers and sisters. Stop being the tough
guy/girl and be kind! You hate them, they hate you. You passionately disagree.
You’re behaving like children. Throwing tantrums just to get attention. Where
are you now? How do you feel? THAT is what you’re teaching your children.
They’re learning to ‘not care’ about other people and their feelings, only
selfishness matters. They see that and they take it with them. That is what is
wrong with all of us, WE DON’T CARE, though we should.
We say we are for "____”.
That proves you care about something. Well, guess what? Someone else cares
about “____”. Do you care about their opinion? No, you don’t. But you want the opposition to care
about what you care about. See the disparity? No? There’s the problem. Egotism
will get us nowhere. Respect the lines, respect the boundaries. CARE! Disagree,
but care, nevertheless. Can you imagine if we all cared about each other the
way we should love ourselves?
Someone needs to stand up and say NO MORE. Where’s the love,
where’s the acceptance, where’s the connection as a human species?
All we can do is keep ourselves in check. I’ll take care of
me. I’ll make sure I don’t create an atmosphere of hate or discord. Who cares
what I think unless someone agrees with me? No one. Who cares how I perceive
the world? No one. How many people want to hear my opinion? Nobody! Am I going
to change your mind? Nope. I can speak openly and honestly around those who
truly have an open mind even though they may be in opposition. The only way
this scenario would work out is if my audience and I care about each other. Do
you care about your neighbor? Do you care about their freedom? How about if we
all just respect one another? What if we agree that we are all important enough
to stop spewing hate? What if we all still said hello to each other every
morning? How about we start aiming for peace instead of contending with who is justified?
YES! We should fight for what we believe. But if we believe in a
better world, start with yourself! Who are you? Do you control anything other
than yourself? Can you control anything other than yourself? What if we all
started controlling ourselves? Oh, what a wonderful world that would be…
Imagine for a moment: A world filled with kindness,
graciousness, smiles, laughter, honor, favor, equality, patience, love, and
God.
It’s improbable, I know. I’m not disillusioned. However, if
I start with me, and you start with you. And then she starts, and then he
starts, etc. Then we can change the temperature of our attitudes one by one.
Love each other. That is the command. We don’t have to agree, but we do have to
love each other. Start with yourself. We only fight conflict because we don’t
love ourselves as Christ loves us. If we did love ourselves, we’d see no need
to sling fire at our neighbors. We’d be capable of loving others and ourselves.
When we love ourselves, we find peace. We find respect for others, and we find
acceptance. Let me be me, and I’ll let you be you. Put out love and kindness.
Put out hope and joy. Stop the virus! But somebody has to go first.
