The events of the world have been weighing heavy on my mind lately. Our senseless inability to simply share love and compassion with all those around us, no matter who they are, makes me sad for a world that we could be living in. Recently, a question popped into my mind that continued to expand the more I thought about it. I asked myself this, “If we had never been taught that there was a difference between black and white, would there ever have been a difference?”

As I began to ponder this question, the ramifications of the answer to that expanded far beyond simply black and white. I started to apply the same question to all the things that we have come to believe as different, simply because society has deemed them so. The prejudices that are taught to us from an early age, influenced by our surroundings and socioeconomic influences, ultimately determine what we ourselves believe. That which we experience along our life path continues to effect beliefs that were established in our early years. We start to see why it is so difficult to change that which we have been conditioned to see as “normal”.

Think for a moment what the world would be like if we had not been conditioned to judge, hate, discriminate or compartmentalize. Think what it would be like if we were not separated into black, white, brown, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Gay, Republican, Democrat, and the list goes on. What if we all simply fell into one category, human beings all doing our part to navigate our life path the best that we know how. The world would immediately be void of prejudice, hate, suicide, self harm, mental illness and all the things we force on people simply because we try and make people who we want them to be, or fail to accept them simply for who they are. If we had never been taught that they are different, then different would have never existed.

There is no question that these are thoughts of a utopian world. However, we all have in us the power to make that world a reality. When we see the world through the eyes of love and compassion and accept all people for who they are, we begin to influence those around us to do the same. If we can plant those seeds now, we offer future generations a chance to live in a world far different than that which we are currently experiencing. We see signs of that happening already. If we nurture and grow those seeds, the possibility of a much different world could actually become a reality. Plant your seed today and begin to make the change that world so desperately needs.

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