Stop. Think. Breath.

Human beings have the potential to have such great resilience and survival instincts. Unfortunately, our first instinct is to knee-jerk react. Our knee-jerk reactions come from a place of fear. Fear stops us from truly assessing the situation for what it truly is and pushes us into a place of helplessness.

Stop. Think. Breath.

We are anything but helpless.

Stop. Think. Breath.

Stop. Stop the rhetoric playing in your head. It’s rhetoric and as such is designed to make you feel a certain way. To think a certain way. To be easily controlled to do a certain thing. To program you to be easily controlled.

Stop. Think. Breath.

Think. Think about the totality of the situation. Really think. Think beyond your comfort zone. Think beyond what you want to think and believe. Think. It is only when we have actively and actually thought about the totality of a situation that we are able to actively create solutions. First, we have to think. Think beyond what we have been taught to feel. Think beyond what we have been told to think. Actually, think. Think about it from all sides. Think. Think about the people involved. Think about all possible alternative outcomes. Think about the motives behind the people involved. Think about the motives behind the people telling you what to think. Think. For the love of all, you cherish and hold dear, think.

Stop. Think. Breath.

Breath. Breathe again. Every breath you take connects you to the universe and everything in it. Breath. Every breath you take provides your body and brain with oxygen. Breath. Every breath you take is a reminder that you are still alive. Breathe because you can. Breathe because your brain needs oxygen to function.

Now, you can grieve, you can be outraged, you can want action, we are human after all. Before you demand whatever it is your knee-jerk reactions have told you to demand Stop, Think, and Breathe.

We do need to take action. We need to be honest. We need to think, what that action should be, could be. We need to fully comprehend what action really means. What people are really saying. Before we so blindly and willingly follow someone, anyone, we must ask ourselves, what do they really want to happen. What do they stand to gain?

We must look for solutions that solve the underlying problems. Without addressing these, the rest will fail to yield the results most people intend to occur. We must start acknowledging there really are problems that we need to address.

We have vilified the police in our nation. We have made the police the bad guys. So who can we turn to for protection if not ourselves? We have asked for certain things in our country because we have bought into the rhetoric which feeds into our fears. When will we be a nation that stands up to our fears and says “enough”? Stop. Think. Breath.

Stop. Think. Breath.

It’s time to come together, we must be a united nation. It’s time to stop ripping each other apart.