I have no idea who drew this image. If you know please let me know so I can add the credit and link. My girlfriend asked me to post it on the blog…she sent it to me and asked me to write about it. Reading the statements were heart breaking…and thought provoking. I’m pretty sure the following isn’t quite what she expected.
She Persisted
What I’m about to write may be seen as controversial. It may not be seen as mainstream and it might trigger you. All I ask is for responses to be kind.
Ready?
Deep breath.
I believe in EQUAL Opportunities for ALL. I believe EFFORT and CONFIDENCE begins with us.
I want to change the script running in our minds, on the streets and in our world. I want to promote kindness.
It’s simple.
What’s not simple is how do we get there and what does that look like? Laws can be passed. Protest can rage. Rallies and marches can explode.
I respect the passion. Without it, throughout the history of America, we would not have the freedoms we do today. But I have a question; doesn’t change reside inside each of us and doesn’t it start at home? With ourselves? With our children?
I am standing on a teeter totter balancing my weight between pros and cons in this crazy world. YES, I want equal pay for all. YES, I want equal treatment for everyone. YES, I firmly believe we should all receive EQUAL Opportunity. But that doesn’t mean we get a FREE RIDE.
Equality isn’t a blanket pass for misbehaved people to cry fowl because of gender, race, religion or whatever the popular rallying cry of the day might be.
Stop burning down neighborhoods, setting up social media stunts to ruin good people and start building schools!
Be Kind!
Effort equates results.
Start at home. Start at school.
What we teach and mirror to our children, in my opinion, is the foundation of what we want to see in the world. I’m a huge advocate of Head Start. INVEST in our children!
“Relationships are the Foundation”
“Infants and toddlers develop within the context of relationships with the adults in their lives. Relationships provide the security to explore, play, and learn. These experiences set a secure foundation for later school success.”
Do you want to see more women CEOs?
Teach our children, boys and girls, the qualities it takes to lead.
Do you want more tolerance in the world for our LGBT 🏳️🌈 bothers and sisters?
Teach our children LOVE and Kindness.
Confidence
Ladies, let’s build each other up. Let’s raise our daughters to do the same. Dove has brilliant ad campaigns targeting self esteem for women and girls. I especially found this video especially insightful “a girls confidence starts with you.”
Let’s build our young men up. There are so many lost boys that need male role models to flourish (yes, girls need you too!). This quiet epidemic is written about in an Esquire Magazine article, Manifesto of the New Fatherhood; Why fathers matter now more than ever before by Stephen Marche.
“The National Scientific Council on the Developing Child puts the strength of early impressions on a biological level: “We have long known that interactions with parents, caregivers, and other adults are important in a child’s life, but new evidence shows that these relationships actually shape brain circuits and lay the foundation for later developmental outcomes, from academic performance to mental health and interpersonal skills.” The presence of a father affects a kid on the level of brain chemistry.”
Gentlemen, support the ladies. Ladies, support the guys. People we need to work together to make a difference.
Michel Kimmel writes about this in his article on Huf Post: “How can we help women get there? By helping men. Particularly, we need to help men decouple those aspects of masculinity that hold men — and women — back from living the lives they say they want.
So women and men want the same thing: good careers, loving relationships and happy families. Women are advised to lean in or to opt out — as if they can do it alone. But women can’t have the lives they want without some support from men. Men: We need to listen up.”
Ladies and Gentlemen – Be there for our kids. Role model accountability. Build confidence. Spread LOVE.
INVEST IN OUR CHILDREN.
INVEST IN US.
Cheers!
💕
Here are Shelley’s simple goals for the month (you can make up your own, follow these, or tweak them how YOU see it fits your life):
Capture a photo (or more) a day that makes a heart skip a beat, or race (by running to grab a camera to catch the moment). If you don’t have a camera, prefer describing in words such moments – then do that – or do both!
Tag each post with #GFTH-GFTB so I (you) can look back at my (your) progress and remind me (us) to focus on goals that are GFTH-GFTB. These reminders will help me (you) succeed. Include this link back here if you want me to check out your post.
When reading posts by a fellow blogger that resonates as a person who gets the GFTH-GFTB goal setting or thinking, leave a comment and leave the #GFTH-GFTB link on their post or just the #GFTH-GFTB. Is that acceptable or not…I’m not sure but someone will let me know if it isn’t??
Have fun, play, learn new things, meet new people, and write about in your journal or blog EVERY day in February!
Happy #GFTH-GFTB February to you!!
Love compels to do things for others that they can do themself.
Beautifully said
Thank you for Speaking Out, April! It all does begin with us; here’s working & hoping for a better world for us, for our children.
Thank you for the feedback… let’s all work to make the world a better place! Cheers!
Excellent April! We all have to get along, we need to respect each other and show our gratitude to each other. Kindness to each other doesn’t necessarily mean we agree. We are all different, but so much alike! We need to learn to lift each other up!
Thank you so much for the positive reinforcement… life is so much richer with diversity. But kindness allows us to be inclusive even with our differences. Cheers!