Love and Kindness Begins At Home

I love. I love fiercely and I love unconditionally. My family taught me to love others, no matter their race, gender, religion, political affiliation, or sexual orientation. They taught me to always be kind and respectful. They also taught me to speak up when something is wrong. Love and kindness filled my childhood, and I carried that with me as I grew. Now I put my all into raising kind, loving children, because it is my duty as their mother. Love and Kindness begin at home.

There is so much hatred surrounding us right now. It is weighing heavily on me, and I simply can't understand how or why people feel this way. Sometimes I just want to run away from it all, but I know I have to do my part to help change the world: to speak up, to speak out, to do better, to be better, and to teach my kids to always be GOOD human beings. 

I traded writing for personal reflection over the past few weeks, and also immersed myself in research. I was always a "neutral" person who did everything I could to ease tensions, and help people get along. I avoided serious topics like the plague. But now, more than ever, I need to lift up my voice with so many others. I'm still kind. But I will speak up about injustice. I will speak up about how change needs to occur. And I will speak up about how important it is to start that change within your home, with yourself and with your own family.

I honestly debated for several days on whether I should speak up on my blog or not. Ultimately, it just didn't feel right to jump back into "normal" without addressing the turmoil within our country. We went straight from tension over the virus to an ongoing revolution. It is so much to process at times, and it feels like the blows just keep coming. 

Like so many others, I find myself struggling to figure out what I can do to help bring change to this world. I turn to prayer when I'm at a loss or feeling overwhelmed, but action is every bit as important. Our country is so divided right now, and no matter what anybody says or does, they are verbally attacked. I don't share this to spark a debate, or to argue about which side is right. I share this because I truly believe change needs to happen NOW. Our world is turning into an uglier place with each passing day, and it has to stop. People need to be held accountable. We need to do better. We need to BE better! 

Babies are born innocent. They immediately love and want to be loved. Hatred, racism, and discrimination are concepts that are taught, whether it be by neglect or by example. Our world is failing, we have become a very selfish society. We need to work together to focus on love, kindness, and human decency. 

HUMAN DECENCY. It's a concept that is, unfortunately, lost on so many. If you spend just 5 minutes scrolling through social media, it will be obvious what we are lacking as a human race. Somehow, it is a concept that is rapidly diminishing. As parents, we need to LOVE, we need to lead by example, we need to teach tolerance and acceptance, and we need to make our children - and human decency - our priority.

I just can't believe that it's 2020, and there is still so much hatred in this world. Why haven't we progressed as much as we should have? Why can't we learn from history, and be better human beings?

I love. I see the value of every human being. I have friends and family members of every race. I have a sister who is a lesbian, and friends who are gay. I am a christian, and I am an independent, but I have friends in every religion and political party. I advocate for people who have disabilities, because I see their worth. I am more accepting and more tolerant than my parents, who raised me to be kind and loving, because that's the point - it is called progression, and every generation SHOULD get better. I love, because it's my nature, and I'm teaching my kids to love, to be kind, and to speak up when they see or hear something wrong.

Sometimes I feel so hopeless. I don't feel like I'm doing enough just by speaking up, researching, and donating. I turn to prayer, and it still doesn't feel like enough. Then I remind myself that I'm doing important work at home. I'm just one human being in the world trying to help bring change, but if I do my job right, I will send FIVE human beings into the world who are loving, kind, and focused on change! I vow to teach them right, and make a difference!

LOVE AND KINDNESS BEGINS AT HOME. Love and kindness should be the most important gift we give our children. Love and kindness fills our home, and because of that, it fills the hearts of our children. Our hope is that they will carry those concepts with them, become better human beings, and help change the world! 

Are you feeling lost and overwhelmed right now, too? How are you helping to change the world, even just a little bit?