Terrorism, abuse, sadness, hatred, etc. all swarm our everyday lives, making us more reserved than ever before. We can't go one day without hearing something on the news that makes us put our guards up even more.
The days of always feeling safe are over, and it's a sad thought to ponder.
Nowadays, people can't even go into a movie theater without the thought of a mass shooting occurring pop up in the back of their heads. Places that are supposed to bring enjoyment and people together have now been targets of pure hatred. The same goes for schools. Parents should not have to worry about their kids being in danger when they drop them off at school. But, with what the world has come to today, sadly, that is the case for it all.
Going into the aspect of sadness, I have realized that people have gotten very good at hiding their emotions.
It doesn't strike to you that the girl with all her friends is deeply depressed. How could you? She puts on a good show with her half-smile and brave face, but that is just so no one will suspect that anything is wrong. We ask ourselves why someone with a great personality and tons of friends would be so sad or mad at life. We don't know the answer, and those with the answers don't want to tell because they are afraid of showing their true selves when they are weakest.
I oversaw a passage in an article today that stated that more veterans have died by suicide since 2008 than U.S. troops killed during the Vietnam War. Read that one more time and let it soak in. A major war didn't cause as many U.S. troop deaths as a mental game with oneself among veterans.
Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of because, at some point in everyone's life, they too will struggle with a demon in their mind telling them they can't beat it.
With all the hate, sadness, and war that occurs in our lives, we must remember those good people are still out there. The hate and sadness blind us from the beauties of life, making it hard to find those good people, but we continue to seek them. They're all around us, trying to make up for the disasters this world has seen.
Keeping a guard up isn't a bad thing, it's what the norm has become. But, don't be so quick to judge people by the way they look or act.
Speak up for one another and be a helping hand as often as you can because that is what will help the world become a better place. It takes time but so does everything else, and the wait will be so worth it when we won't have fear following us everywhere we go.