all we need is love

Watching the news, hearing the radio, checking Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and it is overwhelming the amount of love and support I am seeing for the people of Paris. But it is also very stressful seeing images of people running for their lives, hearing gunfire, bombs going off and hearing the statistics on how many people are lost to the world or lay dying in hospitals. I am reading blog posts where people are questioning what the world is coming to, and wondering if they should even have children? Should we bring children into a world where there is devastation, where people are killing people? And it is not just in Paris that these awful acts are taking place. From war torn Syria, to high schools in the US being shot up by troubled teens, watch the news and you feel swallowed up and overwhelmed.

So what do we do? Do we turn off the news and live in our own little bubble of happiness, where our biggest stress is what time am I getting my coffee today? Oh and shall I choose a latte or a flat white, and should I be naughty and buy a muffin? I don’t mean it to sound so superficial, I mean of course we worry about more than that, but I know I don’t have to worry that I am not accepted in my own country, or wonder how I will get clean water for my child, or worry that my daughter will be married off to a grown man at age 14. I am also lucky enough to have been born into a country that isn’t at war, and it is just that, ‘luck‘, I could have been born anywhere, I could have been a refugee, I am no different to people on the news, except I was just lucky. We have seen terrorism and racism in our country, just last year a terrorist held hostage and murdered innocent people in Sydney.

I can’t even begin to find reasons for what is happening in our world, or why some people think it is OK to kill another person, or rape, or tell people they have no country. It is so sad, it is disgusting, and I can not make sense of it.

I sit here in my country home, views of rolling hills, I feel safe, I don’t feel naive, of course I believe there is a chance that bad things can happen to me, or my family, but I don’t live in the fear that many people live in. Countries where a child Adam’s age are already holding guns and shooting them. So I feel a little helpless, yes I have written a post wishing Peace for Paris, yes I have sent messages of love on social media, but that feels like nothing. I am not there helping on the ground, I just feel helpless. I know many of us feel this way.

What we can do though is not fuel the hatred, not fill with fear and stop living our lives with joy and an open mind. That is what these terrorists want, the want us to be scared and to live in fear. I remember when America was attacked in 9/11 and I said to my hubby that maybe we shouldn’t start a family. I heard someone say this the other day, I read on a blog someone questioning if it was the right thing to do to have children. But then I know without a doubt that people during World War 1 and 2 would have feared the same. My grandparents who lived and fought through these wars would have questioned what world they had brought their children into. After World War 2 their was a boom in the birth of babies, my father and mother were both born just after their fathers returned from the war. These babies, known as the ‘Baby Boomers’ generation where a sign of new hope for our world and renewed life. At a time where people were scared, their cities were destroyed and loved ones were being mourned, but these babies brought happiness and love into our world.

This is how we should live. With love, with hope, with peace, we should unite and show terror that will will not be broken.

Here are a couple of quotes that reflect this.

Here a a few things I believe we can do to let the light in and drive out the darkness.

• Send a message of love via social media
• hug a loved one, and tell them you love them
• meet a friend for coffee or lunch and talk about positive things
• if you are religious then say a prayer, or light a candle
• say hi to people you pass on the street or at least smile at them
• donate to charity
• call a friend, or your parents just to say hi
• surround yourself with positive people
• spend time in your garden
• take a photo of something beautiful and share it on Facebook or Instagram
• tell someone you appreciate them
• play with your puppy
• take a walk and really take notice of all the beauty in your world
• open your heart up and realise just because people are different to you does not mean they are all wrong or bad.
• cook a really special family dinner and be thankful for every mouthful of deliciousness
• make some special family time and talk to your kids about what makes them happy
• Laugh. Laugh out loud and fill the world with laughter and joy
• look at cute pics of puppies, kittens or bunny rabbits. Or my puppy Holly-Rose

I am not saying we should ignore what is going on, I am saying fight it with love.

Thanks for joining me, love Mackenzie xx

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