Egypt... do you choose love or hate?

As I watch the news of the events in Egypt I cry for the Egyptian people and I think of all the anger and hatred these events are flooding into our world.  Our vulnerable feelings of sadness and hopelessness for the Egyptian people quickly erupt into hatred for Mubarak and others like him.  It makes me think of the saying "harboring resentment is like drinking poison and hoping the other person will die".  It breaks my heart to think of the poisonous hatred that is currently bathing our planet and then I realize, it is during these challenging times that we are given the opportunity to decide what it is we really wish to contribute to this world.  What it is we really want this world to be made of.  People who act in the ways that Mubarak act are people who are filled with hatred and as we sit here filled with anger we only mirror back more of that same harsh energy.  It is during these times in our lives that we have the opportunity to practice love...  to find it in our heart to feel compassion and empathy, even for those who have hurt us.  I sit here and think of how badly Mubarak must feel, inside, and how unhappy and hurt he must be.  I think of how he must be in such a great state of pain that he knows of no other way to find relief but to hurt and control others.  It is through this understanding that I realize, if Mubarak and others like him could feel love in their hearts and joy in their souls maybe we could actually have world peace???  I know that we are never going to see world peace if we are all just mirrors of the anger and hatred that is in the world.  And so we have a choice, we can allow these events to bring us to a place of love and compassion for ALL who suffer or we can match the hatred with yet more hatred.  I believe that it is through the feelings of love and compassion that we may find within our heart the desire for peace and the decision to  mirror THAT back out to the world.  This can certainly be challenging at times, as our first feelings may be of anger when someone  hurts us but, isn't it better to make a practice of adding love and peace to the world rather than making one of adding anger and hatred?  What is it that you would like to add to the world?  What is it that you DO add to the world?  Because no matter how powerless some events may make us feel, each and every one of us makes a difference.  ~Rosemary