I know someone who is BLACK who has taken the role of being a big brother to me. He makes sure that I’m always safe and watches out for anything that might harm or hurt me. He goes out of his way to make me laugh and smile, and when I need a shoulder to cry on he is always there. He is gentle with his words, and he is an upstanding citizen. He is a human being and he is a decent human being.

I know someone who is INDIAN who has treated me as her own family. She has been in my life for as long as I can remember. At family events her family welcomed me into their arms and treated me no differently than anyone else. The color of my skin, religion, or beliefs did not matter to them. She is a human being and she is a decent human being.

I know someone who is HISPANIC and hardly speaks any English. Although I never have any clue what he is saying, he manages to get out the words “How are you?” and smiles. He actually never stops smiling at work all throughout the day. He is one of my favorite humans because his smile is a universal language. He tries his best to bring good into the world just by smiling. He is a human being and he is a decent human being.

I know someone who is GAY and has been in our family’s life for many years. They have always been there for my family and have some of the biggest hearts that I have ever seen. All they really want is to love and be loved, which makes them no different from all of us. They are human beings and they are decent human beings.

I know someone who is MUSLIM, and she is the most selfless person I have ever met in my entire life. She buys meals for homeless people every chance she gets. One specific time, she noticed a homeless woman sitting all alone and crying. She proceeded to go over to talk to this woman, and after learning about the woman’s hardships she bought her dinner. It didn’t even stop there. She went to a local Target and spent over a hundred dollars on this woman to get her some essential needs. Since this, she continues to feed homeless people and provides the world with extreme acts of kindness and love. She is a human being and she is a decent human being.

I know someone who is WHITE and is fighting a battle. She doesn’t judge people based on skin color, religion, or anything else that should not matter. She doesn’t care what religion, race or political party someone belongs to. If they can find her a cure, she does not care. Cancer has its way of making nothing else really matter except for what’s most important in life: she loves. She is a human being and she is a decent human being.

I know someone. You know someone. If we think hard, we all know someone. We need to continue to get to know someone in order for us all to become decent human beings. Nobody takes the time to get to know each other anymore. We are so quick to point fingers and speak harsh words. It's fine to have our own opinions and beliefs, but we need to open our ears because at the end of the day we all want the same things: love, peace and compromise. Our issues lie deeper than just being kind to one another, but it can't hurt to uplift each other instead of continuing to knock each other down.

Let's challenge ourselves to be better and more loving and understanding of people. Let's realize that no one knows the correct answer to all of life's problems except for He who is greater than mankind. Let's realize that fighting and violence and killing each other with words and weapons does not solve any of these problems. Let's accept the fact that everyone is different. If we can learn to accept these minuscule differences, we can find common ground and see that we are all more alike than we are different.

I am not naive to the fact that there truly are some heartless and inhumane people in this world. It is sickening to hear of tragedies that happen now on a day-to-day basis. And by no means am I saying that by being kind to one another we can change the world because it will take a lot more than just that. However, being kind to one another is a step in the right direction, and it is something that is completely in our control. I truly believe that if we took some time to get to know individuals for their hearts, their minds and their character, we will soon come to see that the good people outweigh the bad ones. We too often scream whenever a certain “type” of person does something bad and whisper when they do good. Find the good in people, and if you can’t find the good in them, be the good you wish to see in others.

Let’s show off the good individuals we know, reward greatness and appreciate the little things all kinds of people do. There's always a possibility that these small steps we can chose to take may be overlooked and will not change the world, but at least you can say you got to know someone. You got to know someone for who they are as an individual versus the stereotypes that society plasters onto them.

The day this world learns to come together to accept people based upon their character and their heart versus judging an individual based upon their skin color, ethnicity or religion, will be the day we finally see compromise and peace and not false judgments and hate.

I know someone who has the ability to change the world. That someone is YOU.