Death. Overdoses. Murders. Illnesses. Politics. Sexism. Racism. All other negative -isms you can think of. These are truthfully the posts that are taking up the majority of my social media timeline. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, does it really matter? The point is that these outlets I manage, to keep up with friends and family, is now an outlet for various opinions and posts of sadness and heartache. Now, this is not to say that there aren’t the occasional, “I’m engaged!!!” posts, or even adorable baby posts of giggles and warmth. There are. But that’s not what the bulk of the feed consists of. On the contrary, they are filled with the first few things I mentioned. The darkness of our new world.

I’ve always been this overly excited, big-hearted, optimistic girl. Thrilled over the simplest of things, like a kind gesture, a minimal surprise, a smile from a stranger. Now, I find myself struggling to keep this girl afloat. It’s difficult, you know? I mean, we each have our own stressors every day. Bills we need to pay. Relationships that need our focus. Schoolwork that needs completed. Health that needs to be maintained. We have our own problems, our own daily battles that we fight just to keep going in this world.

But this world; this world that we are fighting to survive happily in, it’s a diminishing place. It used to be filled with a light that illuminated from our shared dreams, kindness, generosity, and the will to be the better man. The discipline to stand tall when those stressors tried to push you down. Yet here we are, years later, with the same stressors, but a different world. Now, more than ever, we fight to maintain our balance through the push and pulls of the daily battles. Except now, they are strung together with the push and pulls of the world as well. Those battles are now maximized due to the lack of humility, the lack of warmth, the lack of good character that we all once used to strive for.

There are a few of us left. There are still some of us fighting to keep that goodness alive. The ones that go out of their way for a stranger. The ones that lend a helping hand for those in need. That take time away from their daily battles to make someone else’s a little bit more tolerable. We used to be a team, despite our differences. We used to have the same end goals in mind. To be good people, to be successful, to achieve greatness. Somewhere along the way, the world went awry from these goals, and the team broke up to sects. Sects with angst, judgement, cruelty, self-harm, and no regard to healthy minds or a healthy life. And then the worst part, the sects turned against one another. Rather than seeing the de-unification and taking control over it, the fire was fueled by self righteousness. “I am right, you are wrong, there is no other way.”

This is not the world I grew up in. This is not the world I want children to grow up in. We are a product of our environment. If we continue with these demolishing ways of life, civilization does not stand a chance. Take control of your own life, and do what you can to stop the hate. I understand that social media is an outlet for your life. I respect that. And I also understand that social media is an invasive way to get stories out for the world to hear. But how much better would it be if we flooded our daily thoughts with articles like, “Starbucks customer ‘pays it forward’ with every visit.” Or, “Baby suffering from rare disease gets donations from various organizations.” I mean, these things happen. There are still good people and kind hearts that are willing to push through the hate to make this world go back to the way it used to be.

I understand that social media is a place to post your “updates.” Your pictures, your thoughts, your beliefs, your opinions. But what I don’t understand is why people choose to challenge one another instead of accept one another. Why make peoples’ thoughts darker than they have to be? Why make peoples’ lives more stressful than they have to be? I understand a civil debate about keeping an open mind and seeing other perspectives. I promise that I do. But there is no middle ground here. People will post an opinion, and if it’s not what someone agrees with, they are quick to not only challenge, but prove that their opinion is right and the other’s is wrong. That is not how the world works. This is not a black and white place. There is gray. There is also blue, green, orange and pink. There is much more than “right versus wrong.” There is much more than “black versus white”.

Change starts with acknowledgement. I do not mean it lightly when I say that we are caving in on our selves on a global level. There is far too much potential in ourselves as a species to break ourselves. We must work towards a nation, a world, where we actively choose love instead of hate. We must work towards the acknowledgement and acceptance of the color gray. We must learn to embrace it, and I challenge you to do just that. Embrace the gray by actively doing good. By being good. By being mindful of yourself, your health, your loved ones. That our time here is short, so we must spend it in the most beneficial way possible. Encourage others to see the good, but you must learn to see it first. Encourage others to be kind, but you must be willing to lend a helping hand first. Encourage others to be embrace the differences, but you must be willing to accept the differences first. It all begins with the change you make for yourself. Once we make ourselves better, we can make each other better.

Once we begin posting these things on social media, this new way of life, we will adapt. We will unite when we see one another working towards a better outcome. Instead of breaking off into sects, or various groups, we need to unite as a whole. Understand that there are differences within, but accept them rather than hate them. Disagree, sure, but with respect and care for one another. All we have at the end of our time is each other. So, we must use what we have to remind ourselves that there is hope. There is always hope.