Costa Rica doesn’t have an army. Imagine a country in Central America with no investment in war. What would it take for all countries to put down their arms and to end war on our planet?

I was just in Costa Rica for a workshop. Reflecting on possible futures and knowing that it’s our choice what we create.

Costa Rica simply made a choice and that opened up different possibilities. Instead of pouring resources into an army and war, Costa Rica chose to focus on things like preserving the environment and education – it has the largest percentage of protected areas and one of the highest literacy rates in the world. Imagine the wisdom of replacing an army of soldiers with an army of teachers; they abolished the military and guarantee universal public education in their constitution since 1949.

I’m glad Obama chose to finally end the war in Iraq. Imagine if Bush hadn’t initiated that war to begin with. Think of where those billions and billions of dollars could have been spent. Think of all those hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who were killed, maimed and traumatized. It’s also disheartening that 18 American war vets commit suicide every day.

Isn’t the insanity of war obvious?

Think about it; we’ve declared war upon and killed Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, pagans, indigenous peoples, homosexuals, blacks, and the list goes on and on.

Can we please get that there is no us and them. It’s just us. There is no “them”. We’re a human species with the same DNA all sharing one home – planet earth.

I find it crazy that people think we can drop bombs “over there” and think it won’t affect us “over here”. It’s like saying we can shoot a cannonball into the stern of our boat and think the bow is safe and we can keep sailing along as if nothing happened.

Can we please choose different possibilities before we kill even more of our fellow humans and take this whole planet down with us?

I’ve been called optimistic and a dreamer. I don’t mind. I have great company. Please watch this inspiring video with an amazing rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine” by Emmanuel Kelly from Iraq.

I know what I choose. What are your choices and what future possibilities will you open up for yourself, your family, community, and our beautiful world?