personal philosophy

recently, i've seen things on the news and on the internet that honestly makes me sad. people standing up for what they believe in to the point of saying anyone that doesn't agree with them is wrong. and i personally think that kind of thinking is wrong. exclusivity and hate are not good, it is possible to agree to disagree. still, i know there is more than one side to every issue, and sometimes, it's hard for me to reconcile between the different groups i belong to that have very different view points. and when they are at odds, i try to take a step back and remember what my personal beliefs are, the things i think are most important in life, so i don't get swept up and lost in the group-mindset.

there are certain things i believe in. and there are certain values i try to uphold in my daily life. it's kind of the guide i keep in my mind on how i want to live. it also helps me remember what are important qualities that i want to instill in my children. and as different as we are sometimes, these beliefs are something my husband and i share.

now i suppose that these beliefs could kind of fall under the general heading of personal religion. though, really, i hate that word. beliefs can be more easily shared than religion, because organized religions can be very segregating. i think that most people believe in god, some sort of god, but then to break it down to the christian god or jewish god or muslim god then gets into the idea that one is right and everyone else is wrong. and personally, i hate that. so this isn't religion, but more my personal philosophy.

i believe in respect, and i think it's the most important thing. it's the very first intangible value i tried to instill in my children, because respect is the basis that everything else i believe is based on. we need to have respect for others, their physical being and their beliefs, no matter how different they are than us. unless they try to force their beliefs on us, because we also need to have respect for ourselves.

we also need to believe in ourselves and trust ourselves, just as we believe in and trust others. and by believe here, i mean we need to have faith in the people we surround ourselves with, that they won't try to harm us or do us wrong or lie to us. which is also why we need to trust in them. because we can't make it through life alone, we need help. and we need to trust in ourselves enough, trust in our instincts that we wouldn't surround ourselves with bad people.

other, smaller things i believe in are always being truthful and self sacrifice and trying to keep the peace and trying to keep an open mind about new thoughts and new ideas. and that there is always something new for us to learn, if we are willing to look at things a different way.

also, hope. i believe in hope. that no matter how dark things get, no matter how awful the world seems, or how everything seems to be falling apart, there is always tomorrow. and a chance for something better.