Live Life Label Free

   Happy weekend all! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and the beautiful sunshine that has been hiding this week.

   I want to take a moment to recognize all the lives that were lost in Colorado this week. I know that there are countless prayers going to all the families that are being affected by this tragedy. My heart aches for the ones who have lost a loved one, especially to an act of such senseless hatred. This always reminds me of how short life is and how precious every moment is. Make sure to cherish your loved ones all day everyday.

   As you know I am a Facebook user and this week, on my news feed everyday I was noticing something. Everyday I would sign on and see endless pictures of views on the world, politics and religious beliefs. But the thing that surprised me was that none of them were positive messages; they were all combative and negative.

   I found myself growing irritated at all these pictures because I think, "HEY the world is negative enough, let's shine a light of positivity shall we?" Behind the words and the meanings of these pictures the message portrayed was how individuals were labeling themselves.

   We are a united country. We generally come together, support our fellow man in times in need and conquer any task at hand. At least we definitely aim to always try to do this. But I believe it is very hard to be a united country when we are CONSTANTLY labeling ourselves. To me it's almost like we're saying this, "United we stand, but divided we quickly become if you're not in my "label group".

   In observance of all the pictures this week, the labels, it was much like this: Republicans vs. Democrats, Christianity vs. Other religions and How I think this should be done vs. How you think this should be done. Not ONCE was someone just stating an opinion or a thought without bashing the other group in the process. Why is that necessary? Can we not just state our beliefs without having to tear someone else down?

   I understand the very controversial political period we are in right now. We have two candidates that have strong opinions and very different methods of thinking. But some are SO focused on what label they put on themselves and how their label is "better" than the other label.

What would happen if we had NO LABELS?

   If we had no labels then all there would be is individuals beliefs. No fighting group against group, religion against other religions and so on. We could just have our opinion, our own idea and go on from there. There would be no need to compete or fight.

   In addition no one would have to try and fit themselves to a label. No one would have to think, "Oh I belong to THIS party so THIS is what I have to believe." It would be totally opposite. You would be in no box and wear no label; you would just have a set of beliefs and go from there. There would be no sides to choose, no one choosing what you have to believe or what your "label group" believes but rather just an opinion to form on your own. We wouldn't have to be divided straight down the middle, which we are right now in almost everything.

   I feel the longer that we are divided down the middle, peace will never come. If we are constantly fighting against another and trying to prove ourselves better than others, than no resolution will ever find us. We'll all be too busy fighting amongst each other behind our drawn lines in the sand; the lines that WE decided to draw.

   This can apply to all areas of ones life. People can label their life by politics, religion and even possessions. Sometimes things that people own tend to start to own them. That's what a label can do. Instead of just forming an opinion, your label starts to take over you. And then many times it's no longer what is YOUR opinion it is what is your LABELS opinion or your GROUPS opinion. I'm a fan of people being individuals and forming their own beliefs so you can see how me and labels just don't mix.

   Bottom line is this. And this is solely my opinion....

I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU ARE!

You could be:

Republican , Democrat, Independent, Christian, Buddhist, Catholic, Black, White, Purple

You could wear:

Gucci, Fendi, Walmart, Target, Goodwill

You could be:

Upper class, Middle class, Brilliant and Creative, Simple and Quiet

Why does any of this matter?

   If you are a good person, your authentic self and living your life then that's all that matters. Not what label you are or what your status is. Life is too short for any of that. Just be YOU and not part of a "THEM".

  We all know there is such hatred in this world. There is violence, crimes and acts of hatred all around us at times. When it boils down to it, does it REALLY matter what label you have? Does it really matter what you call yourself?

   To me, the most important thing is to be YOU. Because you are the ONLY one that can be the special and unique you. If there was a way to strip our world of labels I would love to see what could happen. Maybe peace could come and resolutions to current issues could arrise.

And most importantly, the true meaning of being united that our country and our world so desperately needs.

Have a great week!

~Ava

Quote(s) of the day:

"It ain't what they call, it's what you answer to."

-W.C. Fields

"A name is a label, and as soon as there is a label, the ideas disappear and out comes label-worship and label-bashing, and instead of living by a theme of ideas, people begin dying for labels...and the last thing the world needs is another religion."

-Richard Bach