Our Thoughts Are Our Reality

“What we think, we become” -Buddha

I think Buddha hit the nail on the head with his statement “what we think, we become”.

Stop and think about this statement. “What we think, we become”. Now, look around you. Look at all the hate that is being spewed through our society today.

I have done well to keep calm amid the last year while politics unleashed its ugly head. I have kept my comments to myself and watched my fellow citizens voice their opinions loudly and angrily. The louder they become and the angrier they become, the more I see the hate escalate. “What we think, we become”.

I watch as the peaceful assemblies become demonstrations, loud demonstrations. People push and shove and invade the personal space of one another. They beat each other verbally. Face's turn red and blood boils. Words leave the mouth, yet they have become weapons. The words pierce the soul and injure the heart, words of mass destruction.  “WHAT WE think, we become”.  

The exchanges become louder and more violent. The pushing and shoving have given way to beating and burning of property, a property innocent of any crime. It only stands a testament to the hard work of those that have labored, in vain they now think as they watch their hard work, their security goes up in flames. “WHAT WE THINK WE become”. 

The hate escalates, the demonstrations turn to riots. Our neighbor has now become our enemy. Friends are now foes. There is no haven amid the mass confusion. “WHAT WE THINK WE BECOME”. Did we forget that the constitution protects our right to “peacefully assemble” not riot?

I’m sure this is not the scene our forefathers would want to see. They shed blood so we could live in harmony, or at least peacefully even in our differences. It pains me to think of all the men and women who have died fighting; shedding precious blood so we could speak freely. They fought for our pursuit of happiness. I am ashamed to see that there is little happiness today. The pursuit has become not one of happiness, but one of who we can hurt the most. Liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat or Independent we are all human beings. We all have the same basic needs. We will never see those needs met if we continue to yell and scream and destroy that which belongs to others. This behavior will only beget increasingly more HATE.

The Statue of Liberty Once stood tall, her torch reaching out to the world, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” She said. The torch burned brightly as a symbol of what could be, not what you could have without contribution but what possibilities could be waiting for you through hard work and loyalty to your neighbor? Over the years this has been forgotten by those who were born here. The symbol of freedom stands on an island secluded and forgotten.

 Those that truly believe this country stands for freedom still believe in this symbol. True patriots still cross the ocean and pass through the golden door of opportunity properly. They come through and learn about their new country. They pledge their loyalty to this their new home. And what do we who have forgotten this gift do? We argue and bicker over who is right and who is wrong. We yell and scream about the lies that people tell. WHO CARES! Enough of blame throwing, none of us are perfect. We all have ideologies and beliefs. There are billions of people on this planet. We have to make room for one another. We have to protect each other. We can’t do that if we are so busy fighting amongst ourselves.

I believe there is a war strategy to consider throughout all this fighting. DIVIDE AND CONQUER! The world is doing everything it can to divide the United States of America. And they’re doing a good job. We are turning our backs on ourselves. Be careful because this is when the wolf comes into the den. Before you know it, there will be no den. No haven. We will have destroyed it through blind hate.

“What we think, we become”. Let us band together and think! Let us think about one another and how we can get past the blaming and name calling. Let us stop adding fuel to the fire and it will die out. We can forgive and move on. We can learn from this nonsense and build a better future. Remember, we all have children that will have to live in the world we leave behind. Let’s not allow our hate to be the legacy of our children.