We Need To Start Loving People

I’ve heard it far too much throughout my life, and it’s become increasingly more popular to say: “I hate people.” A simple sentence, yes, but one that contains so much bitterness and narrow mindedness that I began to wonder after a while why my peers and my Tumblr followers and everyone around me, it seemed, felt this way. Then I realized- the heart of the problem is our loss of faith in the human race. We’re letting all of the injustice and mistrust and hatred in the world get the best of us as a group. But people are, for the most part at least, good.

I love people. I love their stories. I love their scars and their hardships and their compassion towards others.  I love the way their hair sticks up in the morning and even their naiveté to hate. I love their crooked teeth and the way they treat their loved ones. I love their insecurities and their best assets and what they were like in high school and what they want to be in the future. Most of all, I love humankind’s ability to recover. 

My adamant love affair with the human race doesn’t necessarily mean I like certain qualities of specific people, because I’m as human as the next guy, but seriously, stop hating. By hating others, you’re isolating yourself, and at the end of the day, you’re no better than the people who betrayed you and the ones who made you lose faith in humanity in the first place. Instead, you’re a sad, lonely misanthrope. 

An important lesson we need to learn is that we can trust again. If you hate people, it most likely stemmed from a hurtful experience that has consumed you or even worse, a secondhand situation where you vicariously make a parent or a friend’s issue your own. Don’t let your fear of people keep you from living your life. Do you think that the people who have been cheated on are all still single because they can’t trust a partner again? And what about the people who have had their friends talk about them behind their backs? Will all of those people never be able to make friends again? They’ll move on. You’ll move on. We have to. And if you were the two timer or the backstabber, you’ll learn. I’ll bet you already have. If you’re closing yourself in or boxing yourself out, chances are you’re missing out on meeting the insanely interesting and fascinating people who live in our beautiful world. 

I know it hurts. Being taken advantage of always sucks. But it’s important to note that while the majority of people are good, no two people are the same. So put yourself out there again, you wonderful people-haters, or else you’ll grow old wishing that you did.