Racism has always been a heated topic. We, as a society, yearn to live in a world where we are accepted for who are, not what we look like. But with the raging stereotypes, racism always ends up rearing its ugly head.

But what if racism didn’t have to exist? What if we could all learn to live amongst each other, simply by believing that we are ALL the same?

If you’ve been following me on Twitter lately, you would have come across many of my inspirational thoughts. I’ve been sharing my views on life and passing on advice I thought others might find useful.

One of my followers commented that he’d been enjoying my inspirational tweets and it got me thinking. Here was a man from the United States of America, kilometres away from Australia, where I’m currently living. He was residing in a country which was governed differently, the people interacted differently, they even ate different food. But, in spite all of these differences, he agreed with my thoughts on life. He shared the same values; he looked at life just like I did.

And that’s the thing, sometimes we’re so focused on how different we are, that we forget why we are all the same. All of us, no matter what age, sex, race or religion value the same things. There are basic elements that each of us wants and needs from life, regardless of race.

The core issue is that all of us just wants to be happy. We want to live a life with purpose; make a contribution to society. We want to feel appreciated and to cherish the time that we have.

And the idea that happiness is what binds us all together, was reaffirmed when I was invited to the Toys R Us Disney Princess Party on Saturday, 15th December, 2012. The children’s event was two hours of games, face painting, story time, arts & crafts, mini manicures and photos.

As I looked around at all the children, I could see the happiness in their faces. I could see the happiness in my 3 smiling daughters.

As my eldest daughter played musical statues, made faces out of playdough and had her nails polished; I thought about the simplicity of a child’s happiness. Children are so accepting of one another; they find it so easy to forgive and to love unconditionally. They find it so easy to appreciate the simple things in life. They find it so easy just to be happy.

Thuy Le (formerly known as Thuy Yau) is a freelance writer and Youth Work graduate living in Perth, Australia. She loves to share her own personal experiences about overcoming adversity, as she believes that human beings are more capable than they realise. She writes to make a positive difference in the world and to inspire others to learn from themselves and their own experiences. Her writing has been discussed on radio, won writing contests, appeared on The Huffington Post UK and major Australian sites such as news.com.au, SMH, Kidspot and Essential Kids. She has just completed her first book – a memoir - and is on the search for a publisher.