I love being from Colorado. I grew up here, in the cities of Boulder and Denver. It is like most places, filled with good people, living their lives trying to be happy. Conversations about hiking over the weekend, children’s events, work and the weather pepper the air. Unfortunately, the conversation has changed. We are talking about an act of evil. The shootings in a movie theater, random, calculating, cold and without reason. This, in my view was a terrorist act. The intention was to terrorize us, and create fear. To change our lives. In this moment I am LIVID. Having gone through the Colombine shootings, it is hard to believe that this could happen again in such a great place. I REFUSE to let this angry little man have power over my life and how I live it. Just as I refuse to live in fear. Some people are saying he may have a mental illness. I’m not buying it. He knew what he was doing. But, as I thought more about this act of violence something else came to mind. We are living in a time of increasing vitriol, bitterness, and anger. Life rarely runs the way we would like it to. A lot of us are upset because we are dealing with some very serious cards that life has dealt us: unemployment, illness, living lives that are completely different from what we envisioned for ourselves. We have to deal with the cards that we are dealt. We are allowed to be angry, we are allowed to be disappointed in the cards that we are dealt, but-how we deal with the disappointments in our lives says a lot about us. I would like to be married, I would like to have a couple of little ones, I would like to have a car, I would like to lose 12 pounds, and there are a few more items on that list. Those things I would like-I will work towards. But, to be angry and bitter towards other people won’t change anything for me. Instead, I work towards these things that I am hoping to have in my life. You deal with these disappointments in life with GRACE, DIGNITY, KINDNESS, and focus on how to move towards what you want for yourself. At the same time I am worried. The language on the radio, the anger in politics, and the way we see our leaders dealing with one another is seeping into how we deal with one another. What happened to being respectful to one another, with dealing with people in a kind way without expecting anything in return? We are good people in Aurora, in Colorado, and in the United States. But, the anger in these violent acts is saying something about (and to) us. Are we willing to listen? It’s more than gun control, it’s a lack of respect for one another and for life. The question becomes-How do we change this? I will do the following: be respectful, help others, be grateful for what I have, try not to be bitter, don’t blame others (what’s the point?), and try not to add to the negativity out there. There are a lot of wonderful people in the world. I meet them everyday. Smile, say thank you ( and mean it), laugh, give, love, reach out to those that seem lost. Be kind. Do this because it feels good. Please.
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