This I Believe

Unwavering love and compassion are the keys to my life. This I believe. This is not what I had always believed, but through maturity, my life philosophy has evolved from simply doing nice things, to attempting to embody niceness. At thirty-one years old, I realize that this is the way I should be, and this is the example I must set for my two children. I must demonstrate that humans are social animals and only by unselfish compassionate and loving interaction with one another, will our cultures, and our species truly flourish. I am still evolving, but this is the direction I have chosen for my evolution.

I am not a religious person and my politics are irrelevant here and now, but I am a deeply philosophical person with a philosophy has been sculpted by experience. I have received and delivered pain. I have seen many forms of death, making a few narrow escapes of my own. I have been able to see brilliant and glorious acts of kindness, the type which I hope to be able to deliver en masse. I have seen selfishness and selflessness. These experiences have created a person in me who seeks balance, a person that respects all life, that sees the value of freedom of choice and that embodies love, compassion, service, and respect. The kind of person that knows that these life experiences and philosophical concepts are mine and while I might share them when asked, I love and respect my fellow people enough not to impose my ways on anyone.

The culmination of these experiences is a person, a human being that realizes that while I am fortunate enough to have strength, intellect, and plenty, there are many who do not. As such I realize it is my responsibility to share what I have with those that are in need. It is my responsibility to help. Whether I am doing volunteer work, helping an elder with a small physically demanding task, smiling at someone that looks lonely, forgiving someone that tried to harm me or prying the checkbook out of my wife’s hands to swing money at someone or something I feel needs it more than me, I do this out of a sense of obligation to share with those in need. Unwavering love and compassion might mean taking a path that is more personally expensive just because it is right. Unwavering love and compassion means taking the more difficult right over the easier wrong. Unwavering love and compassion means appreciating and respecting differences. Unwavering love and compassion is my way, this I deeply believe.