optimism

Let’s look at the world we live in today. It’s a construct of the decisions we as a global society have made throughout the years, allowing our greed, agendas, and immoral intentions take precedent over the maintenance of justice and life. Despite all of this being a truth many of us are aware of, we become emotionally driven by our own attachments and forget about the essence of humanity as a whole. Now, I am not one to often speak about current events because I feel that it is a magnet of controversy and the like, but I felt it important for my own self to share what I believe is necessary for us to live in a world of peace, as limited as that option may be.

There are battles, wars, and struggles that are faced throughout the world on a daily basis, some bigger than others, and some in our own minds. Every single one of them holds value and weight, and should be faced with wisdom, patience, and optimism – both by those involved and by those standing on the outside, looking in. Regardless of who you are or who it is facing the struggle, we must acknowledge the struggle and its weight.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The sad reality is that many of us have become numb to all the things we hear on the news. More often than not, we need for it to be something big to really make an impact. When it does, our reactions of anger and disgust with all that’s happened tend to be extremely strong at first, and a short time later, our passion towards change fades and we go back to living our lives. All the chaotic things that happen in the world are sparks of fire, and how we allow those things to impact our lives and influence our interactions with each other determines how much gas we add to that fire. If we’re smart, we’ll find ways to put out the fire through peaceful, wise, and optimistic solutions, before it grows too large for us to handle.

In no way do I mean to belittle any of the things that happen in the world today. Rather, I believe it’s important for us to work on our own selves, and to seek out knowledge and wisdom to find peace within ourselves, in order for us to find solutions to everything that goes on in the world, big or small. Through this, we will be able to deal with the news we hear about every day in a positive way, and will grow as a community. Maybe I’m speaking out of naivety, maybe I’m just saying something we’re all thinking but are too afraid to say or face, out of fear of stepping up and taking action. But, I implore all of us to consider ourselves as individuals first. For a minute, put aside all the blaming going on, put aside who may or may not have been the cause of the incidents, and ask yourself how you can make a difference. As I said, how we react to these things makes all the difference on the impact the struggles and events have on our lives. If we focus on trying to make positive changes to avoid having things like what we face happen again, we can make a difference that could benefit more people and save lives. If we, however, take the approaches we are taking today of finding someone or some group to blame and reacting in a negative and inappropriate manner, we are merely adding more reasons for more problems in the future.

Take an example from the days of elementary school, where if someone were bullied, the advice we would give them wouldn’t be to retaliate by starting to bully those bullying them. We don’t advise our children to react with the same thing they are hurt by, so why should that change when we’re all grown adults. Do we lose our sense, and emotional and mental stability when we get older? Most of what we see in the world today is bullies pointing fingers at others, and their blind followers spreading hate and negativity throughout the public to blind other people into sharing in the finger pointing. Sure, the bullies are bigger organizations or nations, and sure the followers are people on the internet and in smaller organizations, but really, it’s not that different from the school mentality. Make a change by being the better person. If someone is being blamed, investigate and seek out knowledge. Don’t be ignorant to the facts, and instead, stand for justice, wherever it may come from. Jumping the gun in blaming people and not expecting them to retaliate is dumb and ignorant. Be wise in your actions and strive to bring about positive change. People speak so much about wanting to see change and all that, but who really takes productive steps towards it? We all go out marching and protesting because of a matter (and I’m not saying that’s good or bad), but how much time is spent meeting in groups to understand with open minds the people and organizations behind the things being done, and then working hard towards taking positive, respectful, and respectable action? If the accused is an organization or a person that openly claims to have an agenda to do harm to people, then understand that the agenda is specific to those individuals involved in the matter and not to everyone that classifies themselves under that same name. For example, if a person named John goes around slapping people with blonde hair because he believes blonde haired people are evil, does that mean that every person named John believes the same thing and may slap blonde people? No. Does that mean that every blonde haired person is evil? No. So, why let that concept change in any other situation?

Ultimately, what I believe we should all do as individuals is work on ourselves to try becoming the best we can be for ourselves and for society as a whole. When you feel like someone is pushing you the wrong way, or that they seem to be trying to get you to react negatively to something they say, recognize that as being a form of bullying and walk away. Do not react in any way other than with patience unless you are put in a position of needing to defend yourself or others from actual physical harm – then too, be smart and don’t do any more than is necessary; i.e. call the police, move yourself to a safe place, and do only what is necessary to get away from the person, and do not harm out of emotional drive. Have faith in humanity and it’s ability to be good. At our core, that is what we are – good – but it is through the misuse and manipulation of our emotions that we get carried away and forget to think clearly and rationally, with wisdom and patience, when trying to find a solution.

“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” – Mahatma Gandhi

These are all my opinions and thoughts, and no one has any obligation to follow or agree with them. All I ask is that you consider what I’ve said with an open mind and try to find peace through helping others. Only then can we grow as a people and hope for a better future.