Thoughts on Peace

I recently had an exchange with legendary underground musician, Helios Creed. He posted a bulletin expressing his frustration and exasperation with the state of world affairs, and I responded with some ideas on peace. I will quote his bulletin and my response will follow:

From: Helios Creed
Date: Aug 21, 2006 11:30 AM
"A THOUGHT"
you know i wish all us like minded people could get together and get away from all the crazy war greedy mutha fuckers i have a bad feeling about whats going down? but us peace loving peeps are not orginized or even have a place to go to get away from the madness it seems that its going to cover the whole planet. do you have any thoughts on the matter. are we going to get screwed over and watch mankind make this place hell and just do nothing and go along with all this bullshit . i hope that the great spirit gives us an out because frankly i'm fed up with mankind i've fuckin had anuff of the fucking bullshit and this is only the beggining. i feel like we are going to get fucked over real bad and i'm not afraid to talk about it. let me know your thoughts on the matter... sorry if i seem a little harsh but i'm not one to just do nothing and watch the haters keep fucking things over..

And now my response:

"Peace begins within ourselves and in our own relationships. We must meditate on peace and teach others to do the same. We must radiate peace and love to everyone we come in contact with. Let it show in our every word and every action. We must not judge and condemn others just because they are different from us. We mustn't try to force others to fit into our mold. Instead, we should marvel at and celebrate the differences in others. We should encourage and cultivate diversity and individuality instead of conformity. Understanding and acceptance is the basis of peace. If we cannot do these things in our own lives, how can we ever expect to see peace in the world?"

Ok, so maybe these ideas aren't entirely original, maybe they're too lofty, impractical, and idealistic, and they don't offer an immediate solution to existing problems, but still.... What else can we do on an individual basis to promote peace in the world? We certainly can't expect our so-called "leaders" to bail us out and fix everything. Just look at the fine mess they've gotten us into already.

I'd like to hear feedback from others on this. I'm looking for positive ideas and constructive solutions. I don't want to hear negativity and griping about everything that's wrong with the world. There's already enough of that and it doesn't help anything. I'm looking for practical answers that can be applied on an individual basis. Any thoughts?