I am at a stand-still. A loss for words really, of all the hate and cruelty that has happened in our world. I read an article about pastors lashing out, preaching to his people that the shooter did a good thing for the world and less pedophiles would be on the street. Another one about the parents who were not watching their child, when an aggressive alligator took him right in front of them, but who was watching the child? All these threats on political stand points, who is wrong and right, which way is better, and this is why we need to have so and so for president. In the glimpse of all these crazy stories and outrageous reactions to them can we stop, and take a moment.

Think. If your child went away for the weekend, because they felt at home they could never truly be themselves, you have a house of hate rather then a house of love and because of this, your son or daughter has to go away from you to be able to live their true lives. They meet some cool people, where she actually thinks, "I may have a chance at being truly myself." She goes out with her new girlfriends for some fun. For the first time your child is living how they want to, with no emotions of regret, remorse or failure and you don’t even know about it because they are afraid to tell you. And she doesn’t come back; you are wondering where is she? Angry and upset, worried, why is she not home? You get that phone call, an attack happened at the same night club she was at. You don’t know why your child was there, but they were. It’s all coming together and the pieces are all lining up and you are now finding out your daughter couldn’t even tell you the truth because of all those times you said hurtful things about the gay community.

You stop. She’s gone. The community and news starts speaking for you, lashing out that it happened for this or that, and not even a moment for you to process… your daughter is gone.

Your son is playing, happy as can be on vacation, and you stare at your wife next to you thinking, "we deserve this." We worked so hard to enjoy this vacation and we might as well. As a family, you decide to go for a little swim since it looks quite relaxing and fun as a family event. Not in a million years would you think you’d end up wrestling with an alligator to save your own child, but you can’t. Now he’s gone, yet the community already has answers for you. Blaming you as parents of this horrible mistake? Let’s stop, and take a moment.

Instead of stating the things we hate, how about we state the things we love. We build people up rather then tear them down. Now I don’t know about you, but I grew up in a home that had their own opinions as well and while I was scared to say what I believe for quite some time, I finally now can stand for my own. I am able to say the words of kindness I want to spread rather then the words of hate and cynicism. I want to raise my children in a world where they are told to dream and dream until they reached those dreams, and when they get there, their dreams can get even bigger. I want them to live in a world where failure is a new opportunity and support is just another part of life. We do not have to run or crawl away because something did not go right. We can stand and be together in the process of failure.

Now I am not saying we throw freedom of speech out the window, or change any means to it, but there is a way to be civil about opinions and not come across as arrogant. We want to leave a legacy for those who are being born. What will it look like when we can’t even get a conversation going without being offended within two seconds of it? I want to listen to what you are saying, understand your view point and support you of your thoughts but that does not mean I have to do it as well, and it certainly does not mean you need to tear someone down to get your opinions to mean something.

I am sad that people are not more heartfelt over the time it takes for loved ones to mourn, recover and come into life again. Let’s give them a moment, a moment of silence, stop and take a break for them, for the recovery, for their pain and support rather then lash out. Let’s stop, and take a moment.