People Are People, Wherever You Go

We are all ________________.

Fill in the blank, please.

I have been watching, and listening, and my heart hurts.

I know that I am not alone. This is how I fill in that blank:

We are all people.

Despite the color of our skin, we are all people.
Regardless of our sexual identity, we are all people.
Independent of our political affiliation, we are all people.
Creationists, agnostics, scientists, we are all people.
Introvert, extrovert, ambivert, we are all people.

We are all people, and as such…
…we all have value.
…we all have feelings.
…we all have things to say.
…we all have lessons to learn.

…we all have a responsibility to one another.

We are all people.

I have friends, both in person and online, that I do not agree with. I do not publicly “call them out” when they state their opinions, because we are all people. Each of us is entitled to our own opinion.

I have friends who are hurting because someone has or is publicly calling them out, trying to make them feel “less than” because their ideologies do not line up. Somehow, someone has decided that it is their responsibility to “correct” others who have different backgrounds, beliefs, experiences and opinions. This breaks my heart.

I have been ridiculed…sometimes overtly and sometimes very subtly. My opinions, my emotions and my convictions have been discounted…sometimes by people I care deeply about. This does not give me license to lash out.

I have heard that hurt (adjective) people hurt (verb) people. But why?

Whatever happened to “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”?

Whatever happened to “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”?

Whatever happened to “I’d like to buy the world a Coke.”?

Ok, that last one is a little silly. But still, it applies.

Are you lonely?

Are you feeling unheard?

Are you weary of the unknown in this season of pandemic?

Are you weary of the unknown in this season of elections?

Are you weary of the unknown in this season of social unrest?

Well, so am I. What can we do about it?

We can recognize that we are all people.

We can respect each other, even when we don’t agree.

We can refuse to add to the hate, the hurt and the sense of helplessness.

Refuse to speak disparagingly about the good someone has done because they made a mistake somewhere along the line.

Refuse to discount everything a person stands for because you don’t agree on one point.

Refuse to be bullied into hateful behaviors. 

You have a brain.

Do your own research.

Decide what you stand for.

You do you, but please don’t hurt anyone else.

We are all people. Let’s live like we know that.

Maybe it will help us make the world a kinder place.

If not for ourselves, for our children. And our grandchildren.

We are all people. 

Thanks for stopping by, people. 

Knit, Live and Love in Good Health!