“Don’t work on being successful, work on being significant and the success will follow” ~ Oprah Winfrey

On Wednesday night of this week I went to see the movie, The Greatest Showman with Hugh Jackman and Michelle Williams.  I knew it would be an entertaining movie, but I had no idea the impact it would make on me.  The story of P.T. Barnum and his circus was very amazing and I always love Hugh Jackman, but the movie was also very inspiring and redemptive.  I left the theatre feeling that the message of the movie was inclusiveness.  Inclusiveness of differences, because as people, we are obviously all different.  Different races and religions, different languages and customs, just to name a few.  I was so inspired by the message of the movie and came home feeling hopeful.  That feeling of hopefulness lasted until I turned on the television tonight.  I have not been watching television over the past few months, because to be honest, I’m disgusted by the shallowness of the things going on.  It seems like the concerns of most people are overshadowed by the silly insignificant selfish drama of the people supposedly in charge.

Tonight, when I turned on the television and heard that our president said he “wonders why we are having all of these people from shit hole countries come in, I was completely astonished!

There are no “shit hole countries”, because if that is true, what about the people?  The whole problem with everything going on in our world is that so many people are afraid of anyone that is different from them.  What about our children?  What are they supposed to think when the president of the United States of America refers to other countries as shit hole countries?  It’s just not ok and I cannot pretend like it doesn’t matter to me.

Nothing will ever change if we continue to make decisions based on fear.  People are people, period.  We are all born filled with the same connection to love.  That connection gets convoluted as the adults responsible for taking care of us, project their prejudices and fears onto us.  It is our responsibility as adults, to teach the children of this generation, that love is the most important thing, that the way people look, and the amount of money that they have doesn’t matter.  We all have the same capacity to love or hate…it’s a choice.  I’m standing up for what I believe and I believe that there are no “shit hole countries”.  Let’s all make a decision to be inclusive, not exclusive.  People are people and we all have individual gifts to offer.  Would you rather be afraid or would you rather love.  It’s a choice we make every moment.  It’s not about politics, it’s about being human.  Let’s all work on being significant so we will all be successful.

Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.