Some may call me naïve and many have called me stubborn but I believe in the goodness of all human beings. Yes I have been hurt by many, used, lied to and hurt in many ways. But I have also been loved. I have been trusted, cared for and have received from many. I have travelled and worked throughout the world and have met and helped many people, I have found that there is one thing that ties us all together. No matter what nationality or religion, no matter what language one speaks or where one lives, no matter how rich or how poor, everyone in this world deep in their hearts fight the same fight and dream the same dream.

Every human being fights pain and fear and dreams of love and freedom.

We fight others to rid us of our fear and we search for riches to buy ourselves freedom and happiness. But the peace found from conquering fear and the freedom and joy felt from overcoming pain, is attained only through one choice and that choice is love. Choosing love is not made in where we go or what we do but that choice is made every day of our lives in every moment that we look within at our self and how we choose to look at others.

When you meet someone try not to judge them on how they look, what they wear or what car they drive. Try not to judge them on the colour of their skin or the job they do. When you do this not only are you judging yourself but you put up a wall between yourself and the truth of the other person. This wall does not allow love to flow through. This love, joy, peace, trust and happiness is the greatest gift we ever have to give to each other and it is also the greatest gift we will ever receive in this life.

At times when I have been lied to or used, rejected or hated by someone, I try to make my choice love. I do this because I cannot give up hope. If I give up on the possibility of goodness and love also existing in that human being then I have given up on every human being on the planet. Yes there is evil, fear, hatred and pain in people but in that same person there exists love, kindness, patience and good. If we give up on each other and on ourselves and focus only on the hurt that people have done, then we also give up on the goodness that already exists in another and the goodness that might be about to surface in them! ‘Yes the blood inside of me is inside of you’

Can You Feel it – Jackson 5

I recently was faced with my own fears and was hurt by my trust and hope in the love of another, as hard and as difficult as it was I was still faced with a choice. I could have chosen to give up on my fellow human beings and decided that all people are corrupt and untrue but then I would be giving up on the goodness and love that I know to be true. I would be giving up on the souls that already exist and the ones coming to make a change in this world. I would be giving in to my own fear and pain and taking down the whole world in my eyes with it.

In the end love conquers all fear and all pain. Love heals all wounds. Love breathes new life and with it endless opportunities. Love creates joy and peace and freedom. Love is truth and it is living inside the Soul of every human being on this planet. Before we can see it in others we must first learn to see it in ourselves.

We are a gift to each other in this world, no matter how much we have been hurt or how many bad things have happened to us, we have a responsibility to ourselves and each other. The only person to look to when you are faced with the choice of love is you.

©Catherine Louise Birmingham