I Want More Than Anything…

If I could change the world, this is where I would start.

I want more than anything for my family to be safe, healthy and happy. I worry more than I should, but I just cannot help myself. It is how I am built.

I want more than anything for people and animals to all just live together in peace and harmony. I just read that when scientists examine our genes, we are all related. Humans share 99.9% of their genes with each other. Our closest relatives in the animal world – chimpanzees and bonobos – share about 98.8% of their genes with humans. We are more alike than different.

I want more than anything for our diversity, despite our 0.1% difference in genes, to unite us and not divide us.

I want more than anything for people living in poverty and those who are underinsured to receive the care they need. The world, especially the United States, cannot continue to spend billions of dollars on war while failing to care for its most vulnerable populations.

I want more than anything for us to stop bombing other countries because of land or political differences or religious disagreements.

I want more than anything for religion to center on kindness, forgiveness and love rather than division or certainty.

I want more than anything for terrorism, violence, and extremism to be eliminated from the face of the planet.

I want more than anything for cancer to be cured, Parkinson's to be eradicated, and someday for all terrible diseases to disappear.

I want more than anything for us to keep exploring the depths of our oceans and reaching for the stars in search of other life and civilizations.

I want more than anything for families to stay together, friends to forgive each other and people to seek common ground instead of reasons to divide.

I want more than anything for children not to worry about where their aging and fragile parents will spend the final days of their lives.

I want more than anything for no one to be homeless and for everyone to experience the warmth and security of having a place to call home.

I want more than anything for everyone to experience the devotion and companionship of having a dog (especially a dachshund).

I want more than anything for everyone to experience the love of a wife, husband or significant other – the touch of someone’s hand on your shoulder, the late-night phone call checking in on them, the early morning conversations over coffee.

I want more than anything for people to take their health more seriously, to eat better and exercise regularly.

I want more than anything for people to care about climate change and protect our planet’s important natural resources.

I want more than anything for there to be life after death - a God or supreme designer who can help us understand all of this...

But, as my dad has reminded me for as long as I can remember, "David, you can't have everything."

Maybe he's right.

So I dream.

I stay up late and wake up early.

I write.

I think.

I try to pray.

And then I write some more.

Because hope begins with imagining that tomorrow can be better than today.

And yes...

I am still searching.