This Memorial Day Weekend I wanted to talk about all the negativity and general jerkiness I see these days, both on-line and out in the world. Over the last week I’ve been reminded just how lucky and blessed I am. If you follow me on Twitter and on Facebook (which I hope you do) you should know that this week I got picked up by NineStar Press they are going to be publishing my book ‘The Calling’. Getting the news made me stop and think how I got to this point. Yes, there was a lot of work involved. And, yes, there was a certain amount of luck. But, I also believe one of the key reasons I got picked up was because of how I treat everyone and how I interact with the world.
I’m not perfect. No one is. And I sure don’t shoot sunshine and rainbows out my rear-end. But I can affect what I put out there and that influences the way others interact with me.
When I first started my writing journey I got a lot of really hard negative feedback. People were tough on me. I could have fallen down the well of negativity and self-pity it was so bad. After a few days of sulking and licking my wounds, I went back to writing and wrote and re-wrote. Instead of being a jerk I continued to thank folks for all their feedback and I continued to be grateful. It wasn’t easy, because some people were mean, and like many writers my ego is fragile (Lord help me when I start getting reviews). At the time I only had a Facebook page and instead of complaining on Facebook, I continued to post things about how grateful I am and how proud I am of others (oh, and dragons. I love dragons). Sure, every so often I posted something that I found appalling. Doing so was never to jump on the bandwagon of being nasty or with the intention of hurting anyone. It was always with the goal in mind of making people stop and think. It was always comments like this:
- Be kind to one another.
- Think before you speak.
- Don’t be nasty.
- Don’t be cruel.
- Don’t promote hate.
- If you want to make change work for that change, don’t complain or moan-and-grown.
- Support each other.
During a time when everyone was fighting and arguing; crying and complaining; blaming and fear mongering, I continued on…
Oh, man this is starting to sound preachy and give the illusion of me being so perfect. Ugh. I’m not. I’m so far from perfect. I whine and I complain, I have good days and I have shitty days, I can be cruel and I can be mean, I’ve been known to make people cry. I will continue to be everything I try to say we shouldn’t be, not because it’s my goal, but because I’m human.
What I want to get across, today, is the need for us, all of us, to do better. To be kinder, to not allow all the garbage happening outside our ring of control to take over our lives. When we only promote negativity that is all that surrounds us. How can we do great things if we’re stuck in the bubble of being a jerk? Or being nasty to each other. We’ve had men and women die and suffer to provide us with the opportunities to do whatever we want. To give us a chance to make the world a better place. We can’t sit here and use that gift to promote mistreatment of each other. We are one human species and we need to celebrate that.
There are people, not really people, but monsters, out in the world ready and willing to kill each and every one of us (Liberal or Conservative; Straight or Gay; Man or Woman; Young or Old). Why? Because we have all these wonderful gifts and opportunities and they’re jealous. Don’t help these creatures of evil. Don’t add to their power. Don’t be negative and don’t be a jerk. Turn your back on all the garbage and go out there and make the world you want to live in. Support each other, be kind, help one another, and if you don’t agree with someone then prove them wrong by words and deeds not by arguing and fighting.
Good things happen. Dreams come true, when you push away all the crap and all the hate wonderful things happen, strangers give you opportunities. Friends break down into tears when you share your good luck. You end up inspiring others.
I challenge everyone who reads this to do something positive, whatever that is. Leave the pity party and get off the negative bandwagon. Go out and do good. It can be small like a friendly message of support on Facebook to big like volunteering in a homeless shelter or soup kitchen. Just be kind and promote goodness. That is what we all need and I promise you goodness will find you.
Happy Memorial Day, don’t let their sacrifice be in vain.
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