She was right. I was naive and life can be mean. But that doesn’t mean that I should have to worry and hurry to remove these “rose-colored glasses” that she would say I had on. By this statement, she was implying that I was just a child who knew nothing, that by choosing to focus on the best in others and life was a mistake, that I’ll only get hurt that way. She meant no harm, only intended to protect me, but these words could have harmed me had I not realized that she was speaking out of her pain.

She implied that I should take off these ‘rose-colored glasses’ and grow up. But to be honest, I can’t. These are the lenses that God gave me to see the world thru…despite what I’ve seen and been through, these lenses still allow me to see life with the purity and innocence of a loved and protected child. These lenses help me focus on the beauty rather than the evil so why would I want to remove these rose-colored glasses? After all, it’s my perspective that shapes my world. Not to mention, these glasses saved my life.

We all once wore these lenses, even if only for the first few moments of our lives. But harsh, unloving experiences have conditioned many of us to believe that there is no love or beauty in life or humans to behold, but this is just one way to see life, it is not the complete truth.

Sure there is evil in the world and it is wise to be aware of it, to be balanced, but not wise to dwell on it to the point of worry, to the point of fear, to the point of not being able to see divinity and beauty in life and people. For some, that is really hard to do because their experiences have caused them to believe that there is only pain and suffering. And so these are the lenses through which they see life. But with understanding, pain and suffering is a reality that we can leave…if we choose to put on different glasses because how we see life shapes how we experience life.

I believe in us humans. Although I’ve learned some hard lessons about how evil some of us can be, I will never stop believing in the human potential to express divinity and beauty over pain and suffering. To me, ‘evil’ is born out of pain, suffering and ignorance. People are hurting…suffering within themselves over evil done unto them, drowning in seas of sorrows from holding on to the pain of the past, lashing out in anger, hatred and violence because that is what pain and suffering causes those it has enslaved to do…you act out the energy that you align yourself with, you become the epitome of it and treat everyone, including yourself, in whatever way pain and suffering suggests, and it’s rarely pleasant.

Align yourself with peace and love, then you become peace and love and therefore can act out peace and love. Align yourself with pain and suffering and you act out pain and suffering. For some it’s extreme, for others its more subtle…evil comes in many forms. Not just mass murderers, but parents murder their children with fearful, harsh, unloving, unsupportive words and actions every day. This is the beginning of the removal of the rose-colored glasses that children come into the world wearing…the beginning of the breaking of their innocent, pure hearts that create a reality of pain and suffering within, that many never fully recover from. Lies and deception are also forms of evil because of the effects…they cause pain and suffering.

I have a very strong foundation of love as a child, but I also experienced deep pain and suffering that shaped my life for many years. I admit, unaware, I took off my rose-colored glasses and all I saw was darkness and despair. I was lost, acting out against myself and others as a result of emotional trauma. I used to marinate in my pain as a teenager, not being able to focus on anything else, and as a result, my pain turned into depression, anger, substance abuse, rebellion, revenge, and then violence. Once I healed and matured on a certain level, I regained my rosy sight back and the outward expressions of inner pain subsided. I stopped hurting others intentionally, but because I hadn’t completely let go of the pain on the deepest level, it manifested mostly in self-sabotoging thoughts and behavior, which lead to hurting others unintentionally.

Now, I’ve healed in great, many ways and have changed tremendously over the years, and I’ve seen others do the same…all with the help of those rose-colored glasses. I have struggled with it in the past, but for the most part, I naturally see and speak to the true beauty and divinity within everyone, not to the conditioned identities of pain and suffering that most of us are ‘wearing.’ I truly believe that with wisdom, awareness, and a pure heart, wearing rose-colored glasses isn’t really all that bad. As a matter of fact, I believe it can help us all heal on many levels because our perspective has to heal first. If we see life as nothing but pain and suffering, then all we will experience is pain and suffering. The good news is that information is a catalyst to change and when we learn the truth, we can end our suffering. It was assimilating truthful knowledge and spiritual practices into my life and mind that confirmed that my rose-colored glasses were necessary, life-saving even.

She was right. I was naive and life can be mean. Which is exactly why I need these rose-colored glasses. -love, sj