On Being Human....

What is a human being? The online dictionary defines it as the fact of existing or conscious mortal existence. Hmm... do animals have conscious mortal existence?

If all it means is existence, then why do we seek meaning to our lives? If conscious mortal existence means only that we're conscious of our mortality, then why do we seek the answers to our existence? If we are meant simply to exist, then shouldn't however we exist be enough? What would it matter if we felt happy, sad, glad, angry, fearful, joy, frustration, etc., if we were meant to merely exist.

What would our lives be without feelings? Our lives would be an existence. It's our thoughts that determine whatever feelings we have about anything. We have thousands of thoughts every day, most of which don't even register because we don't assign any feelings to them. But it's how we feel about something/anything that determines how we act/react. Without feelings we would truly only exist.

In my opinion, it's that consciousness of feeling that gives us our humanity. And the more conscious and aware of how we are part and parcel of the entire universe, the more compassionate and the more empathetic we become. The more love we feel, the more love we have/need to share.

Every single person is made with blood, bones, muscle, etc, and it takes the same kind of energy for their hearts to beat, as it does ours. Peel off the skin, and you have the same kinds of cells that it takes to make ourselves as it does every other person.

It takes food to nourish them, and water to hydrate them, just like us. They hurt, cry, laugh, and love, just like we do. They need food, shelter, clothing and fresh water, just like we do. And they want more than to just exist, just like we do. They want to be loved and be happy, just like we do.

We're not defined as human buyings, conscious only of making more money than our neighbors, and buying more. We're not defined as human doings - being busy doing things to avoid feeling too much, or afraid that we won't feel enough.

We are defined as human beings. And a mother across the world is no less a human being than any mother here. A family is still a family. They rejoice at births and grieve at deaths and losses, just like we do. And that's what makes us human beings. The capacity to feel compassion and empathy for another human. The ability to be conscious of someone else's plight and to want to ease their lives, in whatever way we can.

If we are meant to merely exist, then I don't think we'd have been given the capacity to be conscious of not just ourselves, but everyone else, or to feel anything.

We all have the capacity to be amazing, and to accomplish amazing and awesome things in this life. If we focus on and are conscious of what we can accomplish and the good feelings that brings, there is no telling what every single person here could achieve.

As human beings, we each have something priceless to contribute. Every single one of us. I will work harder at being more conscious of my own thoughts and feelings and being aware when someone is trying to pull me from that happy place within my mind. I will be more conscious of seeing the jewels in others, particularly those that do not agree with me.

And, I think, that's what being human is.