I am a human that wants peace
I am a human that wants peace. I want to love myself. I want to be loved. I want to accept myself. I want to be accepted. I want to value myself. I want to be valued. I want to matter, because truly, I matter.
I am one conscious being among billions. We all share similar machinery that enables us to question, to seek answers, to come to conclusions. This learning that is occurring inside each and every one of us allows us to “understand”. We all want to understand the truth. We all want to be treated fairly, to have justice upheld. We all want to be respected. We all want to do the right thing. What is the right thing? This definition is lost in translation. We as humans often disagree when it comes to what is “right”. What if I told you that there absolutely is a right thing, that there exists perfect justice? That if some entity was able to examine all of humanity, from the moment we were blessed with consciousness until now, that every action could be determined as absolutely right, to less right, to absolutely wrong? Every consciousness is exposed to derech eretz. Everyone is exposed to proper ethical thinking to various degrees during their time in this world. A person makes a decision based on logical considerations that are stacked up against each other, propelled forward by an overarching intention, and moves that decision into the world through action. Did I take the right action?
If I took the right action, I did the right thing.
So how do I know?
It comes down entirely to the overarching intention that propels my action forward into this world. Did I have the right intention?
This is not subjective! The questions is not, was I able to justify my intention to myself because my judgment was clouded by extreme selfishness, extreme selflessness, anger, or hate.
Actions that are driven by extreme selfishness, extreme selflessness, anger, or hate are under no circumstances the right thing to do!
At this point in time, I have come to a specific understanding of what I think is most likely to be true with regard to this existence. The correctness of my intention is dependent on:
- Whether my understanding of the world is consistent with what really is going on here – the absolute truth of this existence
- The level of my understanding of truth at the time I carried out an action
Everyone can approach the absolute truth. Truth cannot be unheard. Truth penetrates the soul and fills in the missing pieces of our puzzled consciousness. Truth can be hard to accept when we are used to a world filled with lies. But deep down inside, we all sense truth.
It is never right to act out of extreme selfishness, extreme selflessness, anger, or hate. It is always right to act out of love. Every action has a consequence.
Before I take any action, I can ask myself if the intention driving my action is love.
What is love? Love is the perfect balance of wanting the best for myself and wanting the best for others, wanting the best internally and wanted the best externally.
Each person is equipped with a conscience and an intellect that, in combination, can propel their actions with a loving intention to the best of their understanding. This is not always easy, nor should it be. If it were easy, the human experience would be boring. We humans like to be challenged, we like to think, we like to examine, to analyze, to understand. We achieve a sense of serenity in the moments where we feel like we know, and what we know is true, or at least most likely to be true.
Each human has the opportunity to use their conscience and their intellect to do the right thing. Each person can be a hero. Each person can love. Each person can spread peace. Each person can do their part to fix the world.
Every soul longs for peace. I want peace with everyone. I know that world peace is not only possible, but inevitable. The absolute truth is that we are all humans, we are all pieces of a fractured consciousness housed in bodies, we are all partners in the human experience, and we all come from the same source. There is a source to life and everything that we know. The source is beyond our perfect comprehension; however, its existence is certain, and not limited by space or time, nor anything else. We are all from the same source. We are all humans. We all want to be loved. We all want to be accepted. We all matter. We are all connected.
Our world is getter smaller and smaller. The boundaries that once divided us are breaking down. We are more and more accessible to one another; our actions can have a much greater and faster of an impact on humanity than has every been possible. We have the potential today to see every person as human rather than alien, rather than different, rather than less than. That every person is born to a mother and a father and is equipped with a consciousness that uses language to communicate.
We are all born. We will all die. These are out of our control and are true.
I did not choose my DNA, my skin color, my gender, my socioeconomic status, my intelligence, my place of birth, my personality. These are out of my control.
The only thing that is in my control is what I choose to believe to be true and my next action. We all have the potential to be heroes. We all have the potential to use our circumstance to fix the world in the way that only we can. We are all unique and all holy. We can all do our part to save the world.
This is my truth. As a human I have been given a life, given the opportunity to search for what I believe to be true. Everyday I build upon my understanding of truth. My truth today has taken me years of searching to build. My truth is rooted is primary assumptions which serve as an anchor to support the branches and offshoots of logic which work to touch every aspect of life.
Two of these primary assumptions are:
- The creator of the universe, the source of the universe, the source of space and of time, is infinite and beyond my comprehension, although I may approach its expression in this world.
- Love and peace, internal and external, are the purpose.
The ideal state of the world is peace and harmony.
My ideal state is to be at peace with myself.
In a perfect world, there would be complete peace between all people and each person would be at complete peace with themselves. Complete internal peace is the result of understanding that everything I was given at birth, and everything I am given throughout my life is perfect and necessary for me to achieve my purpose. I can examine how I relate to myself, and work to love all aspects of myself. I can examine my thoughts and behaviors, and work to change those that are not loving.
I hated myself and I hated life, but I was too afraid to articulate why, to acknowledge all my insecurities and shame because I was sure that by doing so, I would have proof that I was less than, wrong, and unlovable. This self-hatred was a gift. It fostered within me humility and allowed me to experience pain and suffering. Through humility, pain, and suffering, I grew empathy. I did not want to suffer, I did not want to hate myself, I did not want to die. I wish no one had to suffer. My pain caused suffering because I understood my pain to be unwarranted, unfair. Why was my life ruined, why did I have to be me?
That pain enabled me to grow. Today, even though some days I still feel hate for myself, I am grateful for everything I was given in life, grateful for pain, and grateful for the opportunity to change the world.
Every person can do their part to bring peace. Every person can work to acknowledge all parts of themselves, everything they like and dislike about themselves. Every person can work to accept that which cannot be changed, and work to change that which can. By doing this, every person can work to love themselves.
What can I do to build love for myself?
I need to work to rid myself of extreme selfishness, extreme selflessness, anger, hate, and fear. I need to work to have mercy on myself, to forgive myself, to be tolerant of myself, to be patient with myself, to be truthful with myself, to appreciate myself, to be generous toward myself, and to learn to let go.
By working on these aspects of myself, I can approach inner peace.
As I achieve more and more inner peace, my potential to make external peace becomes greater.
Just as I work to love myself, I can work to love others.
I need to work to rid myself of extreme selfishness, extreme selflessness, anger, hate, and fear. I need to work to have mercy on others, to forgive others, to be tolerant of others, to be patient with others, to be truthful with others, to be generous with others, and to learn to let go.
Every person can do their part to make peace. Every person can do their part to fix the world. Every person can publish their truth. Every person can publish their commitment to love.
I get strength from knowing there are other good people out there. Other people that just want to live their best lives and have others live their best lives.
I can only do what is in my control to fix the world. I can only do my part. I can be brave and speak my truth because I know I have the right intentions. Where there is hate I will bring love. Hate can be contagious, but love is the true pandemic. It is not going to be easy, but if peace were easy, being human would be boring. We are designed to earn our reward.
