There are days when the desire for peace feels almost naive.
When the demands of our leaders sound louder, sharper,
more determined to prove something
through domination rather than understanding.
Battles are waged
— in words,
in policies,
in posture —
and I find myself asking
the same question again and again:
For what purpose?
Is it to show strength?
To claim ground?
To stand above rather than among?
I don’t want to be part of that kind of power.
I want to live among others,
not on top of them.
I want to breathe shared air,
not take more than my share.
I want a life that makes room
— for difference,
for dignity,
for voices that don’t sound like my own.
And yet, choosing peace
when our leaders glorify conquest
can feel like swimming against a current.
It can feel isolating.
It can feel misunderstood.
There is pressure to harden,
to pick sides loudly,
to respond with the same force that unsettles us.
But peace is not passive.
It is deliberate.
It takes strength to refuse domination.
It takes courage to remain open
when closing off would feel safer.
It takes discipline to stay rooted in compassion
when anger offers a faster release.
Peace begins locally.
I remind myself of this in the way I speak.
It is also in the way I listen.
I resist the urge to reduce others to obstacles or enemies.
I cannot control the battles
being fought beyond me.
However, I can decide
what kind of presence I bring into the world.
So I choose to breathe.
I choose to soften rather than strike.
I choose to stand for dignity
without standing on someone else.
This is not weakness.
It is alignment.
And on days
when the contradiction feels unbearable —
when peace feels
out of step with the world —
I return to this truth:
*To fight for the rights of others,
* To stay humble,
* To care deeply
My contribution must be toward
building bridges,
lifting people up,
sharing space rather than conquering it.
I do not want to live in this world alone.
Let’s be brave.
Let’s be humane.
We don’t need to shout,
but we do need to stand up.
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