I am completely heartbroken with all of the acts of violence in our world right now. I often come up speechless when I think about how people can act so cruel to other people. It is especially hitting me hard considering we just celebrated our country's independence. Soldiers have put their lives on the line and many of them were killed in the line of duty so that we may live freely. They leave their families and go overseas to try and stop the violence. Yet, our own country can't even get along. It sickens me. It terrifies me. What is the world becoming?

Growing up I truly felt so safe living in my neighborhood, living in my city, living in America, living in this world. Even after September 11th, I believed that the world we lived in was a great place. With all the acts of violence that have occurred throughout my life, I started to believe that the world we live in is a horrible place. It wasn't until recently that I realized that our world is not a horrible place. We live in an amazing world, but because of the acts of a few people, we are more focused on the hate in our world and not the love.

These acts of violence are unacceptable. I hate living in a world where everyone lives in fear of what might happen next. I'm not exactly sure of what our next step should be to stop all the violence, but I do know one thing. Love conquers all. We cannot fix anything with hatred, in fact, that just widens the gap. Yes, I hate the way things are happening in our world, but I will respond with love. Because only by loving each other and trying to find common ground may we begin to repair this world. I don't want to live in a world filled with violence and hatred. We've lived in this type of world for far too long. It might be cliche, but I want peace. Why has that become too much to ask for?

In my opinion, the media has not been much help. People can find sources to back whatever their view. They never have to know both sides of the story if they don't want to. In a wicked way, people who inflict harm on others are famous because they are broadcasted all over the news. Everyone knows who they are. Their violence almost becomes glamorized because of all of the attention it receives. Turn on the news and I bet you will hear them talk about at least twice as many acts of violence than acts of kindness. We need to make an effort to start doing more good in our world. We need to start recognizing acts of kindness more often. It is only when we act out of love instead of hate that this world we live in may actually one day have peace.

I want to make this clear, I am not blaming a specific group of people for the violence and injustice in our world. It is up to us all. It starts with the simple act of loving your neighbor, because how can we come together if we can't even get along with our community? Also, a person who is indifferent to what is going on in our world is even more concerning to me. If you are indifferent, I suggest you look up the speech by Elie Wiesel where he talks about indifference. He even said that indifference is worse than hatred and I completely agree with him. Start spreading the love because I don't know about you, but I want future generations to live in peace and not in fear of the next threat of violence. I think love and the act of prayer might be the two things left that I can grasp on to in order to believe that one day this violence will all come to an end.