The View from Here

I was on the treadmill in Ostend, Belgium, this morning and saw this older gentleman very slowly, very patiently, walking his old dog.

It made me think of my sweet old Sophie at home and realize yet again that we are all the same, all over this little planet, all humans trying to live our lives and be happy.

We talked to the hotel bartender this evening before a stroll on the beach. He said to forget politics, forget the divisive rhetoric, that all the people he knew were good people trying to be family with each other, just doing the best they could.

All the people on this little planet, trying each day to live a good life. They may be rich or poor, black or white, or brown. They may be male or female, gay or straight, Christian or Muslim or Buddhist, young or old,

Boundaries that we create to separate and divide, but when we boil it all down to what really matters most, we are human beings, all equal, all doing our best to survive.

I will go home from this trip with this lesson firmly imbedded on my heart. I’ll smile at those ‘different’ from me, seeing what brings us together instead of what divides us. No real boundaries, just humanity, just love.