I know I can’t be the only one thinking that our world is falling apart. Specifically referring to the shooting in Orlando, Florida, that killed innocent people at a nightclub. The majority of these people just so happened to be a part of the LGBT community. I’ve seen way more on social media than I would’ve liked to have seen stating that these people deserved to die. They deserved to die because they were “disgusting,” “pedophiles,” “bad,” “sick,” etc.

Yes, I understand that words like these are not what killed these people. I know that the person who did kill them had a hateful heart, and I would like to think that most of us do not think that way. However, I do know that mean spirited words like the ones I mentioned above do not help the matter. They only add fuel to the fires of those hateful hearted people.

When you refer to someone of a different race than your own as inferior to you, you're fueling the fire. When you glare at the gay couple holding hands in the grocery store, you're also fueling the fire. When you make a judgment about someone before knowing them, just because of something you recognize on the outside, you're sending a message to those hateful hearted people that their hate is OK. I do not want to live in a world where hate is OK. I do not want to live in a world where people are afraid to hold the hand of someone they love because it is dangerous. I most definitely do not want to live in a world where innocent, hardworking, loving, happy people are killed because of who they are or who they love.

When are we going to open our eyes, put the guns down, and realize that all we really have in this world is each other? Whether we’re male, female, gay, straight, black, white, Christian, or not — we are all human. What all of us really want is to be accepted for who we are, not just during tragedy — but every single day.

I have spent many nights recently wishing and hoping for something better. I want a better world for the people I love and care about, for my future children, and for myself. I want a better world for people that I don’t even know, and for the idealistic dreamers out there like me.

I hope someday I can say that we have overcome this obstacle. And that we have overcome every other obstacle that will come upon us in the future. I hope that someday, the majority of people I come in contact with will not have a bad word to say about someone just because they are different from them.

My wish for the world is that we can come to understand and love one another. And even if there are people who you disagree with, you can still meet them in the middle, and at least see where they are coming from with their views. You must always remember that not everyone has been through what you have been through. No one has walked in the shoes you have walked in, but we are have our struggles. We all have our own hopes, dreams, and fears. But my wish is that our fears can be something other than the world we live in.

If you’re reading this, please choose to love someone else today. Always choose love over hate, and spread kindness everywhere you go. Because love always wins in the end.