We learn about love from the second we are born. We are not always aware of the love around us, but it is always there – love without boundaries.
Some say that love is the energy that feeds us throughout life – it is food for our soul, and without it, we are doomed to die.
There have been many songs written about love. One of the interesting things about it is that most people learn to appreciate the love they took for granted when it is under threat or when it is tested.
On the flip-side, there is hatred and discrimination. For the last 8 years, I have been very active in the field of diversity education. I was sad to discover that there was a lot of discrimination and labeling, lots of bullying and bias towards others. And this was coming from children who simply cannot deal with others’ being different from them.
What makes this worse is that this happens among their parents too. Young children, from as young as 5 years old, have discriminating beliefs towards others who are different.
They split people by size, appearance, gender, language, height, weight, clothes, ability or disability. They segregate by religion, likes or dislikes, character traits, skills, association, financial status, family status, relationships and the list goes on. So young and yet they already have so much hatred and fear.
Over the last 8 years, I have personally worked with over 50,000 students, teachers, parents and adults through my work with diversity education. Over 90% of these people reported fear and misconceptions, bias and a very limited understanding of acceptance. Essentially, their main philosophy was, “If someone is different to me, he/she is threatening to me”.
My philosophy is that for us to change our society from hate to love without boundaries, from bias to appreciation, from discrimination to caring, and from fear to collaboration, we need to address these issues. And the sooner the better.
It is the role of parents and teachers to change their kids’ attitude towards others by realizing that underneath our looks, behind what we wear, beyond our financial or family status, underneath our beliefs and associations, we are all the same.
We all have the same desire to live happily and in peace. We all want to love and be loved. We want to have love without boundaries, based on total acceptance of who we are.
Skeletons show love without boundaries
Here is a video that explains this in a very simple way. Make sure you watch it right to the end. Show it to your children and talk to them about it. Be courageous enough to change your thoughts if you find it challenging.
Remember that when we live in a society where people who are different to you are not a threat, we will be able to live in peace, with ourselves and others.
Sending you love without boundaries,
Ronit
