Youth always comes with innocence and being naive. That was certainly me as a teenager and young adult. I assumed that the majority of grown ups were good people who were compassionate and saw other humans as people to connect with and learn from. I thought there was just a small percentage on the fringe who were suspicious and fearful of people who didn’t look like, act like, or pray just like them.

I was naive enough to assume that a religious person was synonymous with a spiritual person. Spiritual people have a purpose in life that connects to the world around them, gives them a road map to guide their life down a positive path, and brings out the best in themselves.

Every year that goes by and every experience I have has slowly changed the way I look at people as a whole. I learned what mob mentality is. I learned that fear rules most people. I learned that humans have a great flaw that has them always yearning to be better or more important than someone else. More people than I ever imagined cannot separate a group of people from the characteristic of one of it’s members. People believe they are experts in subjects that they literally know nothing about. People defend their fear by projecting the fault to others instead of recognizing their own issues.

As the world is changing and now the world wide news is on 24/7, and any individual (including myself) can talk to the world on the internet, we can see into more homes and into more hearts. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. Too many people live their life with negitivity, self centered-ness (hope that’s a word), and with a sense of entitlement.

How do we change our culture? Or can we?

I listen to the ugly rhetoric about equal marriage rights. I watch the irrational fear over a different religion coming to a neighborhood. I see individuals fighting to not be harassed because of their race. I hear people accusing others of having shallow reasons behind their vote for leaders. I have seen people ignore people who are in need because they don’t want to get their hands dirty or their hearts broken.

I am disappointed. I had higher expectations of grown people. There is too much ugliness.