As children, we are so lucky to be sheltered from all of the bad things that go on in the world. Sept.11, 2001 was the worst day in many people’s lives. It was a day of a fear, a day of death, and a day of hopelessness for millions of Americans.
But for me, it was picture day in kindergarten. A day where we got to dress up and get out of class so that we could get our pictures taken for the yearbook. It was quite a good day in my memory. I remember no violence, no fear, and no evil – just a pretty purple dress that made me feel like a princess.
But as we grow, we are witnesses to so many acts of hatred every day – whether it be bullying in the classroom, domestic violence within our families, or acts of terrorism as we’re seeing most recently. The world becomes a scary place as we get older – not because all of the sudden there is evil in the world (because there has been all along); it’s just that, now, we’re old enough to see it. So how do we face a world with violence, a world with hatred and a world with terrorism?
That’s the ultimate question.
One of the scariest parts of the acts of violence that have occurred lately is the fact that we never know when something might happen. Why would thousands of young girls ever think that their fun night at an Ariana Grande concert would end up being one of the worst nights of their lives? Why would thousands of others think their night watching Jason Aldean would turn into an unimaginable massacre? It’s terrifying to think that, at any moment, something terrible could happen and it could happen to us. So how do we get past this fear of just living our lives?
Well, we don’t. We don’t get past the fear. The fear might always be with us and there is no solution to that. BUT, the fear is not the problem. The problem is with how we, as a society, as a country and as a united world, live our lives in the face of such cruelty.
There’s one really important thing to remember – we must always have courage and be kind. Yes, I did get that from the recent remake of Cinderella but I honestly believe truer words have never been spoken.
In a world where bad things could happen at any moment, where kids are bullied to the point of suicide, where terrorists attack some of our most beloved cities, where even leaving our homes can be dangerous: we must simply have courage and be kind.
Be kind to one another, to strangers, to friends. It takes very little effort to compliment someone’s smile, or to hold a door open for someone, to tell a stranger to have a nice day, or tosimply be a nice person. With the “pay it forward” mentality, the world could become a more beautiful place.
There are no guarantees in life. We can’t be certain that we won’t get hurt, or that bad things won’t happen to us. That’s life – and it’s cruel sometimes. But we can’t let fear stop us from living and we definitely can’t let it take our humanity from us. People are inherently good, I truly believe that.
Cruelty, evil, hatred, those are all choices. So we must choose to fight against that.
Fight with courage, fight with kindness, and fight with love.
There is more good in the world than there is bad; it’s just harder to see sometimes. So be kind. Pay it forward. And remember, “no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted”.