I just can’t anymore. Every time I open up my computer or pull up something on my phone, it’s negative. There is constantly some sort of war. Mommy wars. Political wars. Blogging wars. ACTUAL wars. It’s too much.
Is there a deserted island I can run off too?
As much as I am grateful to be born in a country that offers tremendous freedom, in a time where we have access to EVERYTHING, I also long for a simpler time, where expectations were less and information was scarce.
We know too much now. We have access to too much now. Everyone’s got their war paint on, ready for the next battle.
We can’t open our mouths without offending someone. We can’t have an opinion because it’s clearly wrong. We can’t live the life we want without someone commenting on the problems they have with it.
It didn’t used to be this way. As much as I love my Internet, it has added to the chaos that is life today.
I was listening to a playlist recently and the Dixie Chick’s “I’m Not Ready to Make Nice” came on. Do you remember that song and the whole fiasco it was in response to? In 2003, they spoke out with ONE statement about how they were opposed to the current war and were ashamed to share a home state with the President. Everyone lost their damn minds and it sent their career into a negative tailspin. While I hold the mindset that once a person holds the position of POTUS, you should show a certain degree of respect, I found the outcome to be ridiculous. If that happened today, I would wager that not a soul would bat their eye. Because Freedom of Speech, baby! (Or some such nonsense.)
READ: The Importance of Saying “I’m Sorry”
It has become the “right” of every person to say whatever they want, about whomever they want. Don’t like someone? Scream it from the rooftops. Disapprove of something? Make sure the whole world knows.
We’ve become immune to the word respect. I’m not even sure we know the meaning of the word anymore. We stopped caring.
I don’t know when this happened. When did the tides shift and every opinion became fact? It used to be that most opinions were just that…opinions. And in the big ol’ scheme of things, the opinion didn’t actually matter. Now every opinion “matters.”
But it shouldn’t. Not to the individual.
I don’t want my children growing up like this. I don’t want them to think that everything they believe is the universal truth, that they have the right to do and say whatever they want because they feel like it.
READ: Last Night I Prayed
We are all entitled to our opinions, but our perception of right and wrong doesn’t make it the truth. It just makes it how we feel. It also doesn’t give us the right to attack other people with such vitriol. I get it; we all FEEL very strongly, but when did everything become so personal that we have to constantly be in attack mode. We all seem to constantly be on the defensive.
It’s 2016. I want more from this world. I want more from my country. I want more from my peers. Hell, I want more from me.
There has always been war. I fear that there will always be war. But just once, I wish we could all wash away our war paint and sit down and just talk, live our lives, and not worry so much about what our neighbors are doing and how they are doing it.
Is that too much to ask? Maybe.
But I’m asking anyway.
YES!! This is so perfect. Standing ovation from me. Especially this, “I don’t want my children growing up like this. I don’t want them to think that everything they believe is the universal truth, that they have the right to do and say whatever they want because they feel like it.”
You nailed it! We’ve all been too busy fighting that we forgot about what’s important- respect. I think social media has desensitized us to other’s people’s feelings. It’s easy to name call and point fingers on Facebook or Twitter, but sit down face-to-face with someone and debate an issue, and we’ll start seeing people that don’t look much different from us.
Bravo- another standing ovation over here! Thank you for writing this.
Standing right along with you! Things have grown completely and tremendously out of proportion and we have lost respect for each other in more ways than one. Great piece – ~ thanks for writing it!