New Perspective

You may call me a hippy or a environmentalist or just another mean name.
But remember I have at least one thing in common with you, I'm a human just like
you. We've both spent our lives feeling the same emotions: anger, fear, joy,
excited, tenderness and sadness. Never forget that despite the difference in our
experiences of life, the differences in our physical appearance, or just
differences in personality, we are of the same race. We will continue to live
together in the same world for generations more and we will learn from each
other. And I see two choices, either we can make peace or we can keep destroying
each other...

This has been rolling around in the back of my head since I started my new classes this week. Hating people is hard work and I'm exhausted.

I will not ask you to defend yourself for your personal choices. I do not care if you choose to eat meat or not. To go to church or not. To drink alcohol or not. To smile or not...

But I know what I choose to do, please do not try to force me to make different decisions on your basis of what you believe.

We can live happily together. I know it. And I know that we can live together despite differences in beliefs or anything else.

It is until people start forcing people to do things a different way from what they normally do when they reach conflict.

These conflicts have been deadly, scary, traumatic and most of all, avoidable.

My new perspective in life: Unless it is harming me or others besides the person doing the behavior, I'm stepping back and letting the choice be made by the person involved. This is not to mean that I do not want to change the injustices in the world anymore, but I am going to reevaluate how exactly I fight those injustices.

So call me a hippy, and environmentalist, a freak of nature.

Just remember that when you give me a label, you also give one to yourself.

Always Yours, Hannah