This post was written by guest author Robin Gupta, owner of Guppy’s Good Times and Orange Cryo Wellness in Conshohocken, PA.

By Robin Gupta as told to Sarah

I came to the United States in 1996. I love America, and when I came here, it was for the promise of a better life and opportunity.

In the nearly 25 years I’ve been here, I’m fortunate to have been able to start my own businesses, to meet my fiancée, and to witness the birth of my daughter. I’ve found yoga, and meditation. I’ve met some of the most hardworking, selfless, resilient people. I have so much love and gratitude for a young girl who has had to overcome all medical odds, and in doing so has inspired a village. This young girl, Janie, was the inspiration for a nonprofit I co-founded to help children in economically challenged situations reach their full potential.

I have so much gratitude for my life here. And I continue to have gratitude for the acts of love and kindness that I witness every day.

Lately, my family has been encouraging me to move back to Canada. My current plan is to stay, but I see so many differences between American and Canadian popular values, and I wonder what impact these will have on my daughter.

This country is currently riddled with division. We have a President who cares more about himself and his political stature than a deadly public health crisis. We have citizens who look the other way when our black brothers and sisters are crying out for help. Although I believe that the majority of police are good, kind individuals, there are black citizens of this country who are falling victim to police brutality as a result of racism. So many of us are full of hate and anger, and that energy is only deepening the division.

We are better than this. We have to be better than this.

The Black Lives Matter movement is driving real change in this country. And it needs to continue because it’s long overdue.

We need to help each other. There is still so much beauty and kindness in this country. Every additional act of kindness is going to shift the energy and have a real impact, no matter how small.

There are some quick wins, some easy wins, right in front of us that we can do now. For example, statues that stand for racism. Let’s all agree that any public monument that doesn’t communicate equality and fairness for all needs to come down.

Those quick wins will help us make way for the real conversations. The uncomfortable conversations that we need to be having so we can start to understand each other better, and so we can start to build an inclusive country for ourselves, our children, and future generations.

I encourage you to think of what you can be thankful for today. To find something beautiful in your daily life, and put your energy toward that. When you do, when you find gratitude, you’ll be at a place where you can start, and continue to help others. When you help others, when you act from a place of gratitude, you’ll be creating more beauty in this country.

And beauty and kindness will win.