simply put

this past month has been a struggle to say the least.  where i originally thought our summer would be spent running around the city with friends on the patio, weekend getaways and backyard bbqs, it quickly turned to be a lesson about patience.  it seems our life lately has been curve ball after curve ball.  for awhile there it got hard to recognize the good in each day when we became so heavily exhausted by it.  What surprises me the most, as we deal with a situation similar to some around us, is finding how childish people choose to be.  What is so hard about communicating, and more importantly listening?  

where hostility and negativity so easily exist, why does it seem that what flatters people the most is the hardest emotion to extend?

simply put: just love.

hold a door open.  let someone in to your lane of traffic.  smile at a stranger.  clear the way for others on the  subway {this one is a bit personal to me}.  help the woman with the stroller up the stairs or the elderly man bringing out his trash.  don't think you know someone if you have never onced asked them their opinion.  we are all from different minds, upbringings and agendas but we are still here, right now.  we see the same faces walking down our streets or at the local store.  we share walls, sidewalks, roads and knowledge of the neighborhood and city.  we are, for the most part, a community just by being here.  does this mean everybody should smile and wave?  no- but have respect for the person you don't know and even more for the ones you do.  choose optimism over pessimism and communication over none.  realize that people might be extending more than you think by offering to help or wanting to talk- and try, try your best, to not lace a conversation with your own ideals. 

not every battle will be worth fighting, and not every one will be won, but if we can inch forward more times than not we will always be going in the right direction.