Not everyone will understand your journey. That’s fine. It’s not their journey to make sense of. It’s yours.
Author | Photographer | CG Artist | Filmmaker
Are you so focused on what a person who shares your views is saying that you fail to see how badly they’re acting when they say it? Because the people who oppose those views see it and no matter how much you may agree with what’s being said, if it’s said in a nasty and hateful way – or resembles something a school bully might say – it isn’t helping your cause. It’s simply setting a bad example.
Refuse to be blind to the impact your insults, hateful remarks, and derogatory statements intended to hurt those you oppose are having on the world. Every time you justify acting badly because someone else is acting badly, you are giving permission to other people to do the same.
You’re not making the world a better place by adding hate, you’re just making the world a hateful place.
If you want more [ kindness – love – level-headedness – logic – tolerance – understanding – respect…] in the world, put some there.
The amount of disinformation that is going to be spread between now and the next election is going to be unlike anything ever seen or experienced before. And it’s already starting.
It is going to be used to get people to react emotionally. It is going to be used to divide people. It is going to be used to cause confusion. And distrust. And fear. And some of it will be used to incite violence. And some of it will lead to people’s deaths. Possibly many.
And we are by no means prepared for it because we are all still vulnerable to it. And that’s scary.
Try to always keep in mind who you truly want to be and how you truly want to act. And try to think with reason before you act or jump to conclusions. No matter how much something makes you want to respond. No matter how wrong you think something is. Because even with the best of intentions, if your emotions and your knee-jerk reaction can be used against you, it likely will be.
Everyone wants a better future except for anyone who stands to lose something if things change. And so those who profit from the status quo will do everything in their power to resist progress and keep things as they are. This includes spending vast amounts of money to convince people that the progress they seek is impossible. Or if it is possible, it’s undesirable for some reason. Neither of which is true.
The fact is, these people & companies are only looking out for their own self-interest and bottom line and care very little about yours. They don’t want you to benefit from anything if it means that they stand to lose money, power, or influence. And so they use each of these things to fight change & progress in every way possible. Because if you win, they lose.
If you go out of your way to be friendly and nice to people, for no reason other than it just feels good or like the right thing to do, THANK YOU.
Even if (and when) it means people don’t always see or appreciate it, THANK YOU.
Even if your desire to help others or make them more comfortable sometimes gets you into trouble, THANK YOU.
Even if what you did was “no trouble” or “the easiest thing to do” or “any decent human being would have done it”, THANK YOU.
Even if you do these things without the need for acknowledgment, THANK YOU.
Because if you’ve done these things, you’ve touched many lives, including my own — directly or indirectly — and you deserve to be thanked whether you think you do or not.
So THANK YOU.
And please carry on doing what you do, like I know you will, whether you read this or not.
You rock. THANK YOU.
If the current state of the world makes you angry, upset, fearful, or depressed, you are not alone. There are legitimately scary things happening. And while you may feel overwhelmed and like there’s nothing that you as an individual can do, understand that how you carry on makes a difference. Refuse to let others or the state of the world turn you into someone you don’t want to be.
If you are unreasonably disturbed by simple things that could easily be ignored, this is likely a sign of much larger issues in your life than those you are choosing to get upset about.
It is far more positive & productive to focus on fixing the real source of one’s problems than it is to punish others as if they were the issue.
Just want to take a moment to highlight how Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson talks to and about people, his career, his family, and his life.
The love, care, passion, sincerity & gratitude is obvious even when he isn’t explicitly pointing it out. This is a very wealthy man who doesn’t make other people feel poor. And the world is a brighter place because of it.
He sets a very high bar, but just imagine if more people — especially those in power — tried to reach it.
I don’t think the journey to get there is a secret. It starts with being sincere, grateful for what you have, and leading your life with love for others and not being consumed with love of money, power, fame, or hatred of other people.
