A Not-So Perfect Guide to a Better World
Love: by definition a good thing; perhaps that’s why everyone in the world seeks it on some level. Although everyone might seek it for a different reason than the next, we all seek compassion and comfort from others in our lifetimes. It is almost as if nature programmed in our genes the need to feel cared for, wanted, desired or whatever a person’s individual case may be. Regardless I find myself shocked at the lack of compassion I find amongst people in the world. While I may not be the greatest person in the world (at times I wish I could bury my head beneath the sand like an ostrich) I still find it hard not to be humane and decent to those I meet — stranger and friend alike. How can people be ruthless?
It starts with a simple question: what would it take for someone to be indecent to another? While I always thought as a child that anyone who’d commit harm to another person purposefully had to be a “bad” person I never thought that the world could harbor so many who do so. Everytime I hear of someone being murdered or a war here or there I sit back to msyelf and ponder how anyone could want to actually make someone else feel pain. Hell, I can’t stand a paper cut let alone wish something of that minor magnitude against anyone; how can someone feel so confident and bold to end another’s life? Perhaps it’s a good thing I don’t know; I can only imagine that pure torment or dementia must grip someone’s sanity to commit such an act. Unfortunately men, women and children are killed or harmed daily out other’s sheer greed. How could anyone desire something so bad as to spill blood? The concept is foreign to me.
Given the state of the world I wish that an answer could be found for the senseless slaughter of other. We are all humans; while my skin colour may not be that of Person X or Human Y I know that we’re all made of the same fleshy fabric as another. Maybe compassion is inherited or learned; perhaps the fantasy world that I lived in for the greater portion of my childhood kept me from experiencing the things that others have. Either way, during the years of my adulthood that I’ve gone through thus far I’ve become fairly dissapointed in humanity. I may not have the right to judge us as a race but damn, if we as a whole stepped back and looked at what we’ve done perhaps the total perspective of it all would be an eye opener. Eve so, what if there were still those who harmed? How would we go about handling said problems? Making a totalitarian move for peace would result in pain and possibly death… therefore continuing the cycle.
Maybe we could start somewhere small and simple? Afterall, change occurs over time; change without transition is unnatural. The best suggestion I can toss out there to each and every person I could meet and to those I never will would be simple: the first person you see you should be kind to. How? It’s simple.. let someone out during rush hour so they don’t have to sit five more minutes waiting to go somewhere! You could also just smile at someone you see who looks upset. Perhaps something I’ve seen that really impressed me was a woman who always paid for the person before her’s coffee whether or not she knew them. We’re a brilliant people with minds that can create airplanes, harness electricity and even chart the space beyond our atmosphere; how hard is it to be kind to someone? You never know.. you could make someone’s day, save someone’s life or give a stranger hope.
In the end, we are all people. We all want to be loved on some level. As a whole we could push forward and make the world a better place for our children by being nice. It sounds extremely simple but wouldn’t you want your children to not have the shock of evil in the world oneday? While it may be impossible to end all of the bad (such a taboo word) we could at least show what we desire: love. Give a little and get a little in return… afterall, everyone deserves to smile.
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