Well, There’s a word that packs a punch, that throws life off-center, that destroys and kills, often literally. It’s a word that’s very topical in our world today. I wish it wasn’t so, but, as they say, “it is what it is,” and we are living in a very hate-filled, hate-obsessed world if one focuses on that aspect of life.
As a child we probably didn’t think much about the emotion of hate. In childhood we would casually say we love something or we hate something. No big deal. We love our parents or we hate our parents. We love or hate our siblings. We hate or love broccoli, etc. We love school or we hate school. I don’t think we were taught the potential damage hating could have at that stage of life.
But advance to the later years and we see hate is a very destructive energy to live with. Gangs thrive on hate as do most criminals. Left unchecked, hate just becomes a way of life or at least a part of life. Yes, it has always been that way. History is a continuous story of war and killing. Look at religion, another continuous tale of wars and atrocities.
Looking over my life, I do not recall actually hating anybody. There were a lot of people I did not like, people I did not see as good or nice people. But “hate,” I don’t know if I would say I hated anybody. I do recall one time when a supposed “friend” all of a sudden decided he hated me. We were co-workers and I thought good friends until one day in casual conversation I mentioned I was gay. Kaboom! He flipped out and started screaming at me how I was evil and God was going to kill me. God was surely going to kill me, no question about it. I deserved to get AIDS and die, and soon! Wow, I did not see that coming. He hated me ever since that moment.
Now, I grew up in an environment of hate. I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s, in an all-white area of Los Angeles. In my immediate environment I was taught that we hate Catholics, Jews and ni**ers. I did not understand this attitude, so of course I was called a ni**er lover by family members. I, of course, was confused as I did not understand this concept of hate that was so natural in the people in my environment. I guess I was the proverbial “black sheep” of my family and environment. Over time I’ve been labeled a communist, un-American, bleeding-heart liberal, etc. Wow, all because I was not hate-filled in my attitudes and thinking.
So now, here we are in later adulthood, and it just doesn’t change much, does it? Look at the world, look at how people are treating each other. Turn on the news. I was at the grocery store recently and two people were going at it, screaming awful, nasty things to each other.
So, how do I handle the people I hate in my life. Well, for starters, I don’t feel that I hate anybody. Really, I mean that. Can’t stand some people, that’s for sure. I find some people awful, disgusting, even evil, but I would not say I hate anyone. I think hate is a line I will not cross. I find hate to be too destructive and harmful and dangerous in my life. My getting worked up and hating people is not for me. I’ve got enough to do making my life work out how I want it to be. I don’t have the energy to hate and be distracted from all the good in life. I will let karma and God work out dealing with the awful people in this world. Really… as they say, “it’s not my job, man!”
You are on a path I love following. Hate is. Or worth my time. I am grateful to know so many people who feel that way.