– [ ] Your feelings are legitimate. If someone, anyone, tries to talk you out of how you feel, they are not hearing you, they are not listening. They are making it about them instead of you.
– [ ] Be kind. Always kind, in all of your interactions. But also be firm.
– [ ] You are worthy. You are worthy to be heard and to be seen. We may not always agree, but we should see, we should hear each other.
– [ ] ‘When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.’—Maya Angelou.
– [ ] Say hello, good morning, good afternoon, and good night. Even if the person is not ‘your person’. It doesn’t cost anything to be kind…and to have manners.
– [ ] Tit for tat, being messy, being petty; is what has gotten us in the mess most of us are in. Let God handle the situation.
– [ ] Going to church, doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. Do the work. Otherwise, you’re just a messy, petty, tit-for-tat Christian.
– [ ] Enjoy your 2023, not someone else’s 2023. Stay in your lane.
– [ ] If you mess up, get up and try again. And again. And again. Never give up on yourself.
– [ ] You can’t hate, fear, or be prejudiced against someone you don’t know, but only ‘heard’ about. Get out of the bubble created by your elders and think and see for yourself.
And by the way, prejudice and hate are borne of fear and jealousy. What a weight to carry and to put on your children.
– [ ] Travel. Traveling around the world or even just outside of your town, will prove to you that at the end of the day, we are all the same, with a few cultural differences here and there.
And that’s what makes us human and cool, all at the same time.
—Civilla
