Be A Positive Force In This World

Written By Don Shetterly

My heart is sad when it comes to the events going on across our country and the world.  This is not about politics, and if you think it is, you're sorely mistaken.  If you know me at all, you know that I do not subscribe to what the masses say on any level.

I see people that are so angry and so hurt.  I see people that are asleep and numb and disconnected.  I see individuals who view others as the enemy, not as humans walking this same planet.  It pains me.  It hurts me.  I weep, and yet my tears do no good.

There is far too much hate and too little love.  There is far too much judgment and too little understanding.  We stand opposed, rather than united to journey through our lives to discover more about who we are.

I'm perplexed because everyone points the fingers at each other.  We exclaim that we know what is best and all others are stupid, dumb, or irrelevant.  We fail to listen to each other while we scream how worthless all others are.

We hold out to the world just how enlightened we are and righteous and good.  We hold out to the world that we are superior and we know all.  We hold out to the world we are peace loving and conscious.  Yet, our actions contradict our every word.

If We Do Not Find Peace Within...

If we do not find peace within ourselves, we will not find it throughout the world.  If we do not learn to accept ourselves, the world will never accept us.  If we see others as stupid or idiotic or misguided and wrong, the rest of the world will see us in that way.

It does not matter what the world proclaims.  It matters more what you feel and think and believe on the inside.  If you want peace, it must first begin within you.  If you want love throughout the world, it must first begin within you.  If you want others to accept you as a valid human, you must first accept others in the same way.

We're at a crossroads I believe in humanity and either we keep heading down into the darkness of the world where there is no peace, or we rise above it all.  It is solely up to each one of us, but it isn't just words.  It is action that backs up our words.  It is action that shows what truly is in our mind, body, soul, and heart.

Let us be a force for positive change by changing our lives in a way that shows what love and peace are to the world.  This blog post is about taking a hard look at who we are as individuals and seeing what role we truly play in the world.

I implore you.  I beg you as the reader to help make a positive difference through taking stock of your own life.  I'm attempting to do the same.  Together we will make it further in this harsh world, rather than divided where we will not stand.

Let's stop pointing the fingers.  Let's cease to be part of the cycle of hate.  Instead, let our lives show love so brightly that it will take over the darkness.

I love this video because I believe it says so much.  It is Matisyahu singing and performing "One Day."  The words speak volumes.

Follow Me On

• Twitter:  @MindBodyThought

• Facebook:   MindBodyThoughts

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

Are We Part Of The Problem?

Some days it is hard to be silent.  I see things posted and I so badly want to jump in the fray and force my screams and rants on everyone else.  Sometimes it is all I can do to hold myself back.

However, if I go off and do the screaming, ranting, and mocking that is so prevalent on the internet, then am I any better than the ones that I decry who do this?  I believe if I go out and do that which I abhor, then I'm not any better.  You can't chastise others if you're doing the same as them.

In fact, if I join the screaming and yelling online, I am really being condescending. It would be the same as me looking down at those who do this, while claiming I'm better.  Yet, I see this happen every day by every one it seems.  Online social media is filled with t his behavior.

I try hard to just not join in because to me, there is nothing to be gained.  No one is listening to anyone.  Everyone is calling each other names or saying despicable things about the ones they disagree with online.  So, what would I gain if I did the same thing?

Is that authentic and helpful?

I have a brother who goes to church on Sunday to a very fundamentalist church where they have all the answers and everyone else is lost and going to hell.  Yet, when you see his stuff he shares with others online, it is some of the most hateful things that I see posted.  He holds nothing back as to what he shares about those who don't think like him.  Is that helpful?  Is that authentic?  I think we could all answer those questions easily.

The thing is though, it isn't just my older brother.  It feels like it is everyone, not just of one belief or another.  If you don't go and respond to the bull-crap that's spewed on the internet, my hat is off to you.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure there are many that don't do this.  It is just too wide spread out there.

We give very little value to humanity...

If we are going to see everyone as either agreeing with us or not, then we give very little value to humanity.  If we are going to see everyone as being for or against us or some viewpoint, then we give very little value to humanity.  Surely we can be more than that as humans!

With what I've seen online, I'm so turned off to all of this.  No one is listening to the other.  It is just a free-for-all on all sides, not just one side.  Yes, there are some that act horribly, but if you engage with them, what does that say about you?  If you try to bully a bully on a playground, are you any better than the bully you despise?

I'm afraid that if we don't pull our daggers back in, we're going to cause irreparable harm to not only our country, but this world and more importantly, humanity.  We can't wait for the others to come around to whatever viewpoint we have.

We need to start acting like humans that are here to work together.  We need to show the love for one another like we claim to have for everyone.  We need to learn what really matters in a day and what is nothing more than noise on the continuum of life.

#TreatOneAnother 

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

Finding Fault In Others

It is so easy to do this and it seems in these days that most of the people on this planet are experts at it.  Finding fault in others seems to be the go-to-device for most occupants of this planet when maybe it should not be so.

If you turn on the news or read Facebook and Twitter, you can see that much of what is posted is finding fault with others.  It isn't that anyone tries to understand what another person is saying.  It isn't that anyone tries to listen to and hear what others are saying.  It is more that we are finding fault in others far too much.

Everyone thinks they have the answers and are smarter than the next person. Everyone thinks they understand the issues of the day more than the next person.  Everyone thinks they would have made a better decision than the one that did even though they were not privy to all the facts that went into the decision.

We fight and scream at one another.  We shout and tell the world how much we know that others don't.  We act as if our opinion matters most because everyone else out there is so stupid and just doesn't understand.

Hey, I've been guilty of this too.  I know we're all human but it doesn't excuse our behavior.  We should be working to right the ship and listen to one another.  We should be working to see the good in one another and open our minds up to their ideas to see how they might help us as a civilization.

If instead of finding fault in others, why not try listening?  Why would we not try showing love to one another?  I don't mean speaking words of love and then finding fault in someone because that isn't love.  You can try all you want to make it into love, but its like trying to make dirt into water.  It just is not so!

Finding fault with one another makes us less than human.  It shows how much we lack personally in our understanding and evolution and awareness, than all others.  When we show others love and stop finding fault in them, it is then that we are beginning to discover what it means to be human.

I'm sure that if we could somehow take an MRI of the brains when we activate finding fault with others, it might give us evidence we are not who we think we are in that moment.  Let us find a way to find the good in one another, rather than the faults.

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

WE SCREAM

The only way I know to deal with what I see is by writing.  My words hopefully carry some impact in a way that makes us think.  I try to write to help others see a bigger picture and make sense of what happens in a day.

Please read what I have written below and I'll hold back from saying any more about it.  I want the words I've written to stand on their own.  If they touch you as much as they mean to me, please share it with all you know.

WE SCREAM

Written by Don Shetterly (c) 1/5/2016


We scream, therefore we are human.
We scream, to be heard.
We scream, yet no one listens.
We scream.

We scream, please listen to me.
We scream, you are someone we hate.
We scream, we dislike you.
We scream.

We scream, how much you hate us.
We scream, to be liked.
We scream, we know the truth.
We scream.

We scream, that you are ignorant.
We scream, how great we are.
We scream, that you're so stupid.
We scream.

We scream, how human we are.
We scream, how righteous we are.
We scream, just because we can.
We scream.

We scream, no one listens.
We scream, no one cares.
We scream, drowned out by others who screamed.
We scream.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blog Post And Images (c) 1/5/16 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------