Going through the last election cycle taught me that I need to use my articles to spend less time trying to be right and more time creating a loving message.

I posed a question on my Facebook status that stated "The World Will Be a Better Place If ____?" in order to hear what my friends think and give an opportunity to find common ground with people who disagree with my world views.

At first, there were a couple of joke responses such as unicorns and X-Wing-class starfighters, which gave everyone a good laugh. But there were also some serious responses. Some of my friends advocated for more knowledge, less social media and getting rid of religion. From over 15 responses the main idea that my friends were advocating for were listening to what other people had to say and doing a better job of trying to hear that person out.

For example, one of my friend's mom said if "People listen before they speak."

A friend from Tennessee said if "everyone showed compassion."

One of my Lehigh classmates said if "people took a step back to listen and understand where other people are coming from rather than shove their own point of view down everyone else's throats."

Another response said if "empathy was commonplace and not an unusual concept. Like understanding and respecting another's perspective without necessarily agreeing with it. If people's first reaction was kindness and understanding rather than opposition."

The last comment came about a week after I posted the status but it was the one I resonated with the most: "Each person would grow in sacrificing their wants for the good of another person."

I didn't expect to receive the responses I did from such a diverse group of people in terms of age, geographic location, and gender but the responses confirmed the fact that people all want their voice to be heard. Whether we share the same values, everyone still bleeds the same color, sheds the same tears and shares 99.9% of the same DNA sequence.

So when will we stop focusing on the 0.1% that makes us all different and start focusing on the 99.9% that makes us all the same?