Healthy Habits: United through love, back to basics

The division in this world saddens me every day and it is so unhealthy. Everyone has a right to their own opinion and we can agree to disagree on points where we don’t see eye to eye. We simply must unite on at least one front — and that is LOVE.

We all have known since we were very young that hating feels rotten and that being loving and kind feels good, right, wholesome and healthy. No matter what your belief system is, you’ve always known that it feels better to love yourself and others.

I’m focusing on this subject this week because if we don’t push the reset button as a society in the United States and around the world, and choose to love each other instead of tear each other apart, it will eventually create a world that is full of hatred. It’s already nearing that point and has been heading there for a while.

As a Christian, I know that our collective enemy is not in the flesh, but in the spirit realm. We should not be fighting amongst ourselves. We are not each other’s enemies.

The only way forward, where we can work together to create a healthy world for our children and future generations to continue to thrive, is for us to put aside differences and focus on our commonalities.

That’s why I’m pointing to loving versus hating here and bringing this all back to basics. We have to find a common ground, and I think we can all agree that it simply feels better and healthier to love rather than to hate.

How can we do this? It’s actually quite easy. Next time that subject comes up that you disagree on with that person, just agree to disagree and change the subject. Find common ground; it’s there.

If we respect each other’s viewpoints and focus on subjects where we have a meeting of the minds, then we can move forward and get on with creating a better world together.

How do we do this inside ourselves? If you’ve ever been depressed, you know how you got there and how difficult it was to get out of it. It starts with self-loathing. We must take the steps to love ourselves once again and then we have the love to give away. You can’t give away what you don’t have, so that’s the start.

Begin changing the way you talk to yourself. Notice when your thoughts are unloving toward yourself and replace those with loving ones. For example, when you catch yourself thinking something like “I’m not good enough,” just replace that with “I am good enough.”

Don’t give up. It takes some time to turn around negative self-talk. However, once your new pattern of thought gains momentum, it will get easier and easier.

We change the world for the better and make it healthier by starting with ourselves. We go within and get back to loving and accepting ourselves first. Then we can overflow that love and acceptance to the people around us.

It’s much easier to love others when you love yourself. And it’s also much easier to forgive others once you’ve forgiven yourself.

The balm that heals the world is love. United we stand and divided we fall. That’s our motto here in the U.S. And it’s true everywhere.

We must put aside religious differences and political differences and focus on what’s most important: What kind of world do we want to create and what kind of world do we want to leave for our children and future generations?

The kind of world that most of us want to live in and leave for future generations is one where we accept ourselves and love ourselves, and accept each other and love each other. We want to live in a world where we care about one another and help one another. We can get to that place quicker by uncomplicating things.

Take a break from social media and politics for a brief time. Go outside and sit somewhere in nature. Think about how we all used to play together when we were little.

That person you hate right now because they don’t support the same political candidates as you or whatever — try to remember their face when they were young, if you can. Did you grow up together? Can you recall what they looked like then? Now, do you see how pure and innocent they are? They started out in this world just like you. They have had challenges in life you may not even be aware of.

Just love them. You don’t have to agree with them.

Remember when you were really little and how simple it was? Why was it so simple?

It was simple to get along and just play and have fun and care about each other because it wasn’t overcomplicated with political beliefs, religious beliefs, etc. We picked each other up when one of us fell. It was all about just having fun. We naturally cared for one another and wanted to see a smile on our friend’s face. We didn’t see color, party affiliations, religious differences or any of that.

Let’s get back to basics. Let’s get back to love. Let’s get back to caring for one another no matter what church we go to or what political party we identify with. Let’s lighten up.

Let’s play like little children again, with the maturity we have now, and create a loving and kind world that heals, helps and does not harm.

Be well, and God bless you.