Do something that matters

Standing in the shower, rinsing off my Smashing Good Pumpkin facial mask with my Tranquilizer snarky bar, I realise I'm irritated. These last few weeks I have been in numerous political and/or religious conversations; some polite and respectful, others not-so-much... So, I have something to say about it. Politics and religion are not the be-all and end-all.

I may not believe in Allah, God, or any other deities out there by name, which is my right just as it is yours to believe in anyone you like. If there is any god out there, he or she hasn't been directly involved in our lives for many - MANY - years, so I do not feel any need to 'give my life' to that being. There is way too much going on here for that to be my main focus. I may not follow organized religion at all, but it's totally fine by me if you do. I'm not going to judge or discriminate against you because you believe differently. It's not my place.

See, I believe in people. I believe that humanity - if we all pull together and tolerate each other no matter our beliefs - is capable of great things, extraordinary change! I believe we need to focus more on bettering our society and less on furthering our respective religions. I want to see more people out there practicing love and respect and acceptance. Less hate, less discrimination against those who look, believe, act differently than you. Everyone has their own burden, so respect that and do what you can to make someone else's journey a bit easier - or, at the very least, no harder. There are so many issues in the world that we do not need to add to it with minute complaints. Yes, someone else's focus might be suicide, bullying, Planned Parenthood and you think we should actually be focusing on LGBT, animal welfare, mental health. Guess what, they are all equally important because they are all issues that have an effect on SOMEONE. It my not be you, but there is someone out there going through a rough time in relation to at least one of those issues. So, as long as they ARE being worked on, that's progress in my eyes.

If someone has a different focus than you, it's probably because they see the world in a different way, so take a minute and try to understand their situation rather than making a snap decision to hate them or judge them for having different priorities. This is life..there's no one way to live it. Do what is right by you, but above all, love your fellow inhabitants.