The Simplicity of Being Human

It's easy to find things to disagree about. People do it all the time. Politics, religion, morals and money provide ample fuel for some to wage continual war.

You and I may not agree about why the world exists or how we came to be here, but we do know one thing for certain: we ARE here. However it happened.

We also may not agree about the purpose of life and what we are supposed to accomplish while we are here. We may have different thoughts about God and the reasons suffering exists. We may both want to help people, but have widely differing views about who should be helped, what kind of help they need and who should give it. However, if we focus on what we have in common rather than our differences, it will go a long way towards making the world a more peaceful place.

Here are some things we have in common with every human being on the planet:

• We smile when we are happy.

• There are times when we feel sad.

• We need human contact in order to thrive.

• We hurt, we bleed, we heal. Except when we don't.

• We know someday we will die.

• We need air, water, food and sleep to survive.

• We can accomplish more together than we can alone.

If you and I can learn to see a bit of ourselves in every person we meet, kindness and compassion are more likely to occur. And the world could certainly use more kindness.