I can’t help but think of love in February.  I have talked before about freedom of speech and still think it is a privilege Americans enjoy.  I have experienced someone else using their freedom of speech to discredit me, yet their freedom to do so exists.  We fight wars to maintain that right.  Everyone is entitled to voice their opinion.  My life experiences are mine however and I remain the expert on that.

When someone else only uses the tools of trying to discredit another as a defense it leaves me wondering what they are trying to distract from.  While not everything is bad or good but somewhere in the middle, I still maintain the right to focus on and address the wrongs.

Sometimes what we say and do affects others.  We can choose our actions, but we don’t get to choose the consequences.  Sometimes we need to face the consequences and correct wrongs.

Valentines day although celebrated as the season of love also includes stories of broken hearts and hurt feelings.  Writing in a diary or writing your experiences down doesn’t always fix the hurt feelings, but is a way to rid your mind of the wrongs committed against you.

I wish the world had more love in it.  If it did many injustices would not occur.  Essentially if we lived the golden rule of doing unto others as we would want to be treated there would be less hurt feelings.

The problem lies in what others are willing to tolerate and feel is morally correct.  Many can tolerate more even though the actions of others are still wrong, so the as we would want to be treated is flawed in the sense that it is a subjective evaluation of what is fair.

People have different levels of what is acceptable.  What is acceptable for one is intolerable for another.  There does seem to exist however a certain baseline of what any normal morally sound individual knows is right or wrong.  Whether they choose the right or wrong decision however depends on whether they decide to be morally correct or not.

So back to the question of what do I love.  I love integrity and doing the right thing even when no one sees it.  I love people with integrity.  I love the way you know you can trust people with integrity.  I love the fire service even though it wasn’t always butterflies and rainbows.  I love the opportunity it provided to serve my fellow man.

I love my family.  I love my freedom to express myself and decide what activities to engage in that compliment my moral compass.  I love the peace of heart and mind I have for  doing what I know is morally right.