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August Blog Challenge Day 2

Describe three legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.

 I am afraid of very little.
I have faced the worst.  And survived.
I have looked death in the face.
Watched it steal someone I love.
Listened to their last breath.
Felt their last heartbeat.
Twice.
And learned how to live without.
How to pick up the pieces of my heart.
How to heal.
And even how to love the scars.

 So I don't scare easily.

 I don't like snakes.  They way they move gives me shivers in my stomach.  But I'm not sure I'm really afraid of them.

 I don't like take off or landing in a plane.  Or turbulence in the air.

 I don't trust carnival rides.

 But fear?
Only one thing really frightens me.
Humans are forgetting how to love one another.

 Our world is a broken, scary place.
1 in 5 young women will be raped during their college years.
10 million children witness domestic violence each year.
16 people aged 10-24 die due to violence every day.
Corrections costs have risen every year.
Violence against our law enforcement officers is increasing.
School shootings continue.
Addiction ravages our families.
People struggle with the stigma of mental illness and don't get help.
Acts of terrorism.
War.
People are persecuted and even killed because of who they are: their race, their gender, their sexual orientation, their religion.





Love heals. Kindness saves. Compassion is a necessity.
In short, we need each other.
If I'm afraid of one thing, it's that we are not teaching our children this simple truth.


14th Dalai Lama/Quotes

  • Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. 
  • This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.
  • Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.
  • Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
  • My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness. 
  • Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.
  • If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
  • We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.
  • Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.
  • In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.

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