I live in Newcastle. That's a 2-hour car journey from Manchester. I remember when I found out about what happened at the Ariana Grande concert. The first report was that there was just a loud bang heard, and I thought barely anything of it. When I heard there were injuries, I thought maybe people panicked at the loud bang and were just desperate to escape. When I heard that it was more than anything I imagined, I panicked.
It was an individual who carried out the attack. One single person created a huge impact on millions and millions around the world. How do we feel about what happened? How has this made us see the world? Does it make us scared to leave our houses? Does it make us never want to attend any sort of event again?
Let's remember that we cannot prevent what we can't predict, and evil is never always predictable. What happened in Manchester is pure evil – people lost their lives because somebody wanted to play God. Good people lost their lives, and this has become a daily occurrence in today's society.
There is a lot of focus on the hurt and pain we feel following this event – and believe me, I've felt it too. But what has been incredible is seeing how united we can be. One Love Manchester has shown how much we can show love and support to total strangers. Why don't we do this all of the time? Why does it take an event like this to unite us?
A couple of weeks ago, we had no idea who the victims were. Now, we see them as angels; we love and respect them. I wish they could know that. I never want someone else to have to lose their life to reveal their worth. Everybody is worth something, and we forget that a lot of the time. We should always believe that the stranger we sit opposite of is a mother doing the best for her kids, or the young boy who might have lost his way will one day change the world with his voice.
Don't lose sight of the good in the world. It's easy to believe that evil silences the good – but it doesn't. Whenever something like this happens, when evil strikes, it instantly highlights what is good in the world. We are. We are the good people, and we need to believe that we will always conquer evil.
An individual changed the world by making us fear it. An individual is all it takes to change it again. You are that individual. Make your voice heard and share the positive influence you are. You can do more with love than anyone can do with hate.
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They came and they conquer, The broken hearts they comfort, A shining light in the darkness, The power of love they wield, For someone who heals, Over something bigger than hate, Which a few chose to perpetrate.
Love, @nablai
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