As a kid growing up at the end of the Cold War then Desert Storm, I was sometimes worried about an invasion or missle strike. You know, legitimate things kids think about when seen on the news.
War and all things pertaining to it are certainly scary. However, I'm starting to wonder, if for our country, our biggest fear at the moment should be ourselves.
We have become increasingly polarized.
Somewhere along the way, we have lost the art of compromise.
We don't love our neighbor and hold our need to be right higher than our need for tight knit communities.
We talk more than listen and don't really care to hear because the party across the table is wrong anyway.
We are the experts. At everything.
It is hard to hear ourselves think over the noise.
Gradually, so slowly we hardly noticed it happening, we became "us vs. them." There is no outside enemy because we are enemies in our own borders.
We have all been guilty at times.
But it is not too late.
There is still good out there. SO. MUCH. GOOD.
Turn off the TV and put down the devices.
Remember that we aren't made to know all the things all the time. There is room for us to learn.
There is a time for silence and a time for words.
Get to know your neighbor. Listen to understand, not to reply.
Take off your rose colored glasses and put down your Kool-Aid. We've all been drinking a flavor of choice. If you think you haven't, check your glass again.
It will be hard. It will be painful. There will be tears. We will need to practice. There will be moments that we want to give up. But don't. Keep pushing forward. The unity will be worth it. We are better together than we are alone.
We are better together than we are alone.