After hearing about the incident in Brussels it forced all of us to think about the world that we live in now. I say "now" because it is completely different than the world we used to live in. The world is changing faster than we are capable of realizing and it's scary. You may be 18 or you may be 50 but wherever you are in life, the "good old days" are unfortunately over.
We think back to before any of these tragedies happened. There was no talk about gun rights because there was no need for it. We felt safe while traveling because security had no reason to question what type of liquids we were carrying on an airplane. Most importantly we felt safe in our schools, malls, and homes because some sort of attack was the last thing on our minds. Now, we feel safer when we see someone with a gun on their waist, choose to drive places rather than fly, and scope out a fast exit in buildings in case of an intruder.
I remember exactly where I was when I found out that we had been attacked on that beautiful September day but as a child I had no idea what impact those four plane crashes would have on the rest of my life. Honestly, I don't think anyone realized how much that day would change our country. In many ways that day brought us together as a nation. However, in the 14 years since that day we have fallen far away from "One nation under God" and closer to "One nation where it is each man for himself."
Myself along with a majority of people my age have dreamed about starting a family our whole lives. But now I can't help but wonder if that is one of the most selfish things we could do. Why would we want to bring anyone else into this country or this world that has turned into one of the scariest places to be? We pray everyday that something is going to change and the good old days will come back. However, the scary thing is that I am afraid we are just at the beginning and things will get much worse long before things get any better.
When it comes to the issues of who will run our country next, which country is being bombed this week, or what movie theatre had the latest shooting, there are two choices. One, we can ignore everything and live just in our private lives or two, we can decide to educate ourselves on what is going on. If we as a nation could be more educated it is amazing the things we could accomplish. The problem is that too many people decide to ignore it all but one day it is going to get to the point where it is directly impacting all of us and ignoring will no longer be a choice. People choose to ignore what is happening so they can pretend they are still in the "good old days." Sadly, it is not that simple anymore.
This new era of living in fear is sad but it is the reality. I wish there was a simple way that we could turn back time before this place became what it is today. Unfortunately, there is no way to do that. There is no one that can stand up in front of our nation and give us a solution to this problem because getting more than 10 people to agree on anything in this age is nearly impossible. So, all we can do is sit back and pray, really pray, for this nation and this world. If you find yourself really needing a break from all of this you can close your eyes and allow yourself to escape back to the good old days for a few minutes, just be aware when you come back to reality, there is a strong possibility it will be one shooting or bombing worse than when you escaped.
