We have all heard the saying.

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Hurt people hurt people.

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The cycle of violence continues until we decide to break it.

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Yet there continues to be more violence in the world.

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When we are a peaceful person, it can be heart-breaking to see the violence in the world today.

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It can be confusing, frustrating, or just plain depressing.

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Seeing the violence in the world can make it hard to see things from a higher perspective.

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To see the causes and the potential answers to it.

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For we get caught up in our own pain even when it does not involved us.

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And it still hurts to hear when someone else is a victim of violence.

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Violence never brings us closer to peace and freedom.

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It only pushes us to more violence.

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To more pain.

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Until we lash out at the people who have lashed out at us.

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Our humanity suffers when there is violence in the world.

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Understanding and compassion are its first victims.

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How can we find compassion when there is so much pain from a violent act?

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It can feel overwhelming and hopeless.

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Yet this is the time when we need hope most of all.

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We need to know that there is a way forward.

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A way to find healing.

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To find a release from the sadness and pain we feel.

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And that takes time and distance from the act.

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For the Earth still turns and life continues.

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So must we.

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We must find a way to rise up and spread the compassion that is so lacking in the world.

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It must start with us.

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Finding peace in our own hearts first, before we do anything else.

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For we are the ones who can see clearly while others are blinded with rage.

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To ask them to find compassion is almost impossible while they are grieving and in pain.

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The people who are outside of the devastation must be the peacemakers.

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Even when our hearts are heavy we can still find a way through.

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A way that leads us to a better world.

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Where we can find peace after the pain.

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Hope after the grief.

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Compassion after the tears.

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The person who commits an act of violence did not do so in a vacuum.

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There are always justifications.

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We might not think they are valid, but those who were suffering before, they surely are.

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For ultimately, to solve the issue of violence, we must address the cause.

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Not the symptom.

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To create a world where violence would never be considered.

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That will take time and extreme effort.

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Yet it is possible.

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Perhaps not tomorrow, or the next day, but we can start moving in that direction today so one day we can find ourselves there.

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In the garden of Eden we all desire.

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Wouldn't that be worth it?

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~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant

Host of The Conscious Consultant Hour