“Our “civilized” culture is failing us. And to change things, we have to start with our children, showing them the importance of love and kindness, of faith and hope, of compassion and non-violence, treating each other with respect and dignity, not as bodies to be climbed over on the road to material success. . . the responsibility lies with each of us, in our daily one-to-one encounters, to reach out and help each other, with acts of kindness. . . in this way we can change the world.” Brian Weiss , M.D. It is with the smallest acts of kindness that we can change the world. Most of the beautiful souls who have walked this world know this. As Fred Rogers, the late great teacher of our childhood stated, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” And, there they are, the ones who show up. The beautiful souls. In the spotlight, we see them showing up for times of tragedy, but rest assured these are the same people who show up when no one is looking. They are the individuals who practice love and kindness on a daily basis. They are the individuals who exhibit faith and hope through their daily acts behind the scenes. These are the individuals who exude compassion through impeccable words and peaceful actions during the course of their day. These are the individuals who honor their fellow travelers by “seeing” them and acknowledging their dignity. You can find these people everywhere. We are these beautiful souls. We are there, the compassionate doctors, the respectful lawyers, the compassionate social workers, the dedicated teachers, the faith filled religious workers, all professions – we are there! We are the individuals that this world is begging for, we need to allow our beautiful souls to liberate those who cannot see their own beauty within. When we start to realize the real purpose of our being here is to shine a beautiful light from within onto other people, then we are on to something BIG! Then, by our example we give permission to our children, our future, to strive for a better way, where anger is diffused and hatred is a thing of the past. Violence can be a long forgotten memory. Stereotypes and bigotry that cause rifts and separation can be healed to unite us all. And in the process, love can conquer all. I know this sounds dreamy and idealistic, but why not dream that the greatest of ideals can become our truth, our everyday reality. We must allow our conversations to go from the spotlighting the worst of humanity to identifying and focusing on the best. It is already happening every day with small acts of kindness by helpers. Demand that our news media recognize more and more this aspect. Evil can have no place where there is good. And, there is so much good in our world! Open our eyes and start to notice and encourage this type of behavior in our littlest of citizens. Put the violence away and start championing peace. If this is what we want, then we must start to live it! We are all crying out for a better world, one where we all can evolve to a higher consciousness with an “us” mentality. Where each of us in encouraged to embrace our talents and share them with the world. Where we don’t live in fear and paranoia of our neighbors, but see them as equally special and important- see their goodness. We are all here to live in this world to see, feel, hear and experience the beauty that surrounds us. When we allow our insecurities to take hold, this kind of fear-based behavior causes greater separation and more violence. When we allow our vulnerability to be seen by others and express our hopes for love and peace to take over, we dare to be great because validation and healing can begin. This must become our habit, our place where the reset goes, the beautiful souls must find their voice and make it loud. And, if it starts out as one who inspires another, the voice of love gets louder and louder. The more of us who realize this, the better off we will all be. It is our responsibility to learn to connect to each other rather than cause divides. Our children are watching us and learning. Through your example, show them how to find the greatest expression of their beautiful souls. Then our words of compassion become acts of kindness and in this way “WE” allow our beautiful souls to change the world!
