He awoke to a life filled with hate and anger. He awakened to his heart filled with sorrow and longing, longing for a gentler time when a smile carried weight. Life seemed to change in a heartbeat. The subsequence of the changing of the old guard was not like before. Before, there was reason and level heads. Before people argued and debated about real causes and sought out compromise and understanding.
The awakening brought on a brutal understanding about what had caused the change and this new level of hatred and dominance. His awakening created a deepening sorrow with clarity. The hate and control were a long culmination of layers upon layers of trauma passed on from generation to generation. Ignorance bred on ignorance, ego built upon ego, the loss of reason and understanding compounded this all to the point of global pain, dominance and sorrow.
The world was no longer the same. Broken within broken, his inner world was beginning to mirror what he saw of the outer world, chaos, hate and destruction. The moment came one quiet morning while sipping his espresso feeling the sun warm him. It was just a thought, but as he explored the moment, he realized the thought was not entirely his own. It was like words floating around him and landing with a certain purpose.
The brought about a memory of a long forgotten saying he held true. Its simplicity held true and the understanding of it brought a smile, a small one but felt. The thought and the long-forgotten saying held that each day one has the chance to change the world. A somewhat innocuous phrase, but held deeply enough and with enough curiosity, the understanding of it blooms like a rose in the summer sun.
He remembered speaking this to people he met that were sad and disillusioned. He remembered explaining the phrase and its meaning. A simple smile offered to a stranger, or a friend can elicit a change in the world that goes unseen as it travels. That innocent smile brightens one person’s day, and as a result is carried to the next person and the next. He sat with this memory, smiling and feeling lighter. All is never lost, hate is man-made and is what covers sorrow when processing and understanding sorrow becomes too heavy to hold.
Love is universal and born within us. Loe is peaceful, gentle and quiet. The hardened hearts of men that are not capable of understanding their sorrow deepens the hate, both inward and outward. He sat there for a while after the last sip of his espresso with the lightness of his heart and a smile that grew roots.
