things i'm just sick of...

not the most creative title, i'm sure. but i'm an angry little elf today.

it's not anyone's fault. it's probably not something that can be fixed. it's just today.
i'm overwhelmed with so many things. mostly just the world and how terrible it is.

i'm sick of death.
i'm sick of cancer.
i'm sick of anger.
rudeness.
hate.
laziness.
ignorance.
inferiority.
yelling.
silence.
filth.
apathy.

i just really am sick of it.
my sister is in high school, and she's an angsty teen, for sure. but i understand...
if i could say just one thing to kids in high school, and to my sister, it would be:

You are loved. You are important. You matter. You are beautiful. And you are strong.
It's the humanity within a person that makes them all these things.
Too often the media, religions, and even each other and ourselves insist that we're just not good enough, that we'll NEVER be good enough. Stop with the lies and the hurt. It doesn't fix anything. It certainly doesn't help.

How many people must be beaten and abused before we'll stop this madness?
How many of us will live with eating disorders, slice open their skin just to feel?
When will our prisons stop being filled with people who raped, kidnapped, abused, and maybe even killed our brothers and sisters?
When will we stop fighting and instead lift up our brothers and sisters who are close to giving up?
Will the judgments ever end? Will we one day wake up and realize the damage we cause others by treating them like they're no better than the gum stuck to the bottom of our shoe?

I wish for peace. I wish for happiness. Equality. But more than those, I simply wish for love.
Race, gender, sexuality, and appearance shouldn't matter at all. Prejudice should be left in the history books where it belongs.
People shouldn't have to wonder if they're loved, appreciated, or needed.
They shouldn't have to lock their cars and their houses.
We shouldn't have to cover our scars, our bruises, and our emotions.

We shouldn't rejoice in the death of a bad man. We should mourn that he made poor choices along the way. We should mourn for his family who is devastated by the loss, who will bury a father, a son, a brother while the world rejoices. There's nothing sweet about it...

I know I'm definitely not the poster child for How to be a Good Human, simply because I'm human.

Justin Timberlake got it right. "Where is the love?"

I see it once in awhile, when an old couple laughs and kisses like their still 16-years-old. When a mom kisses and consoles her babies when they're tired or scared. When my sweet mom stays up late, just to make sure I get in okay.

I just wish I didn't have to look so hard all the time...

Now please bless I figure out how to be a good change in the world.