The glass is half full after all

And these days, it seems to come from every possible angle.

Recently, I posed a question to friends on Facebook. The question was simple.

Why do they think there is so much hatred in the world today?

I was hoping to get a ton of responses and received quite a few.

Envy is a word that came up. Other words that were received included greed and ignorance. Still, others wrote that society has become more "me" instead of "we."

The world has never been easy. Times are rough and have been rough in the past, but people have always found ways to persevere.

On the outside, I can sometimes give the impression that the glass is "half empty."

However, I guess you could say that I am quite the opposite. Rather, inside, I feel that the glass is always "half full," eternally optimistic that people can and will find a way to just "get along."

But I'm finding it more and more difficult to continue believing that.

In 1967, John Lennon, then a member of The Beatles, brought a song to his band mates.

The song was rather simple compared to most of their tunes.

At the time, The Beatles had been commissioned by the BBC to write a song for "Our World," a special television show that was broadcast June 25, 1967.

The idea was to have artists from different countries worldwide perform a song.

An estimated 400 million people tuned in to watch the event. The show was broadcast to 26 countries.

For the event, Lennon wrote "All You Need Is Love"

At the time, then-Beatles manager Brian Epstein had this to say about the song: "It was an inspired song and they really wanted to give the world a message. The nice thing about it is that it cannot be misinterpreted. It is a clear message saying that love is everything."

Lyrically speaking, "All You Need Is Love" features some of Lennon's best and simple work.

"There's nothing you can do that can't be done. Nothing you can sing that can't be sung. Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game. It's easy ... All you need is love ... Love is all you need."

The song was referenced in the movie "Independence Day," when the character Julius Levinson -- portrayed by Judd Hirsch -- said "All you need is love, John Lennon, smart man..."

Is this what the world needs now to bring things back on track? Another pop culture moment?

I don't think so.

Rather, I think and believe that love is inside all of us. We, as people, choose to feel hatred when it serves us.

And that's sad.

I'm not on a soapbox here. I'm just as guilty as anyone.

People throw the word "hate" around like it's a speck from a leaf that has just been mulched in someone's yard.

That's a lot of hatred.

Is there more hatred now than ever before?

No.

There's nothing going on at the current moment that would suggest hatred is more evident than ever before in the history of mankind.

But it feels more prevalent.

In the world today, we have advantages that they didn't have back in the 60s. News is filtered through the Internet and broadcast to the masses on cable networks like never before.

Video footage of the latest explosions or deaths can be seen practically every minute.

It seems as if every where you turn, hatred is just right around the corner.

Extremists of all faiths, shapes and sizes calling for this or calling for that.

Is that truly what was intended?

I seriously doubt it.

For every ounce of hatred in anyone, there is just as much love. It's inside each and everyone one of us, whether we like it or not.

Sure, I understand this vision may never be attained. But wouldn't it be nice to wake up every now and then and just feel love. No hate. Just pure love.

Maybe Lennon was right all along.

It's easy.

All we need is love.

And love is all we need.