"All you need is love."

The Beatles truly were right when they sang this. Emotionally, all you need is love. But however right they were, and however powerful and wonderful love is, it is not the topic of this post. The topic for this post is quite the opposite of love, and yes you guessed correctly, it is hate. Hate. Also a very powerful thing, and when used by people it is sometimes considered a wonderful thing. But it is most certainly anything but wonderful. Have you ever stopped to think what hate means? Well, I took the liberty of looking up the exact definition on Dictionary.com and this is what I found:

 

to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest: to hate the enemy; to hate bigotry.

 

Hate is such an intense emotion, yet it is one so very accepted. It is accepted that everyone has enemies whom they hate. And enemies are one thing I suppose. But have you ever stopped to think how much you use hate? When you are walking down the halls at your school or work place, and you see people you know or know of. They might get blasted with a hateful look, but was it you who gave it to them? And you may or may not think a look can say everything but it can, believe me. Other times, it is just the sense one gets that they are hated by the masses, or even just a few people, hated because of jealousy or rivalry or a million different stupid things. Those of you who have been on the receiving end of this know eactly what I'm talking about. We say we hate people all the time, I know I do. But have you ever stopped to hear the words coming out of your mouth? People say things like, "I hate that girl, she's such a slut." or "I hate him, he thinks he is the best thing to happen to the Earth." or "Have you seen that kid I babysit for? I hate him, he's so annoying and dumb." Generic as they may seem, these are comments that everyone has heard before. But do you even know who you're hating? Hate is just a tool, a tool that you use, and sometimes you use it without knowing. But you use it none the less. You have no way of knowing how your hate is affecting that person. You have no way of knowing what is going on in that person's life. Do you like it when people hate you? Because I know it does not feel good at all, it feels terrible. And when someone is hated enough it starts to wear on them. And they start to feel about themselves the way you feel about them. Would you want to make someone hate themselves? Hate is such a nasty thing, and we use it all the time. And in our soceity, in which insults have a much lesser meaning than they have in the past (Example: friends will call each other whore or bitch and it is not intended or taken in an offensive manner) hate gets thrown around a lot more. But next time you hear the words "I hate" starting to come out of your mouth, think about who you are hating before you voice this opinion. Think about what you are saying and how hurtful words really can be. And words can be so hurtful, but hate is one of the worst of them all and we use it ALL THE TIME. How is that right? I know we all like to think of ourselves as good people, but how can you honestly think you are a good person if you use hate to hurt people or control them or manipulate them, even if that wasn't your intension. Think before you speak. And we could all use a little more love, so tomorrow I want you to make an effort to speak to people and tell them they look good, or that you liked something they did, etc. Be genuine. You get my point, because as bad as hate is and as horrible as it can make you feel, think how wonderful love can make you and everyone else feel. It can make you feel so much better. So brighten someone's day tomorrow and smile instead of making their day worse by giving them a nasty look that says what words cannot. The Beatles, yet another nugget of wisdom they have left us: "All you need is love"