Stand Up for the Weaker
Maybe it is the back-to-school pictures filling Facebook. Maybe it is the empty coffee bottles and trash around my desk that he promised to throw away. Maybe it is the quiet house and the empty spaces where his car and body used to be, but I wasn’t prepared for Hamp returning to college today to hit me this hard. Emptiness followed by guilt about the lessons I haven’t taught him or that he didn’t want to hear. Writing them down and hoping he reads them later is my way of letting go.
Accept your story. Even the chapters that brought you guilt, shame, embarrassment. Or the chapters that you could have done better. This is what you lived through, what shaped you. But the best and worst chapters don't define you. Today is a new page.
Believe in the good in people. Most of us are doing the best we can.
Curiosity- Give into it. Chase after it. Let it drag you to places you have never been. Curiosity is where you discover your passions and what makes your big brain spin.
Deeply breathe for five minutes each day.
Emotions- Feel them. Explore them. Identify and understand them. Just don't bury them or run from them.
Exercise- It is the wonder drug that makes you feel better inside and out.
Failure- It hurts and it will happen over and over. But education and inspiration comes from what you do next.
Fishing- Sometimes you go on a fishing trip to make someone else happy, but find a family of grizzly bears with three cubs that play close by and the day turns out better than you expected.
Get it right. Not be right. Getting it right may mean letting go of what you thought was right.
Help- There is a blessing from not just giving help, but receiving it. Ask for help, even if help is the only word you can pray.
Ice cream- I will always take you for ice cream, even if I have to drive to Tuscaloosa to do it.
Jake- Stay in touch with your little brother with memes and the other silly things you do to make each other laugh. He loves you and wishes he could be more like you.
Keys- Always put them in the same place.
Loyal- Keep some loyalty to Mississippi State.
Listen to people's stories and what is important to them. That is where you find what you have in common. First impressions and pre-judgments that dismiss their humanity are always wrong.
Magic- As bad as things seem there is still magic and serendipity in the world. Be open to it and create it when you can.
Now- The wheel in your brain spins out of control with thoughts from the past or about the future. This moment is all you have. Do your best with it. Read The Power of Now.
Outside- get out there.
Other side- Consider the side of the person who was rude, or who thinks and acts differently from you. You have bad days, other people do too. Your experiences and upbringing shaped how you see the world. Theirs did too. Both of you think you are right. Maybe neither of you is wrong.
Pleasing people- It feels good to receive appreciation and praise. Pleasing others feeds your ego and provides validation, but it crashes fast, leaving you wanting more.
Quarantine- Leaving college when things were starting to come together and then returning under these conditions is unfair and out of your control, but you will find your place again.
Read books. Read poetry. Read newspapers.
Stand up for the weaker. Remember this message from your Fairhope Rock.
Social media is not the place for debate and discussion. Your logic and reasoning may be good, but you aren't going to change anyone's mind.
Truth. It can be painful, hard, uncomfortable, and make you look bad. But any other way is worse.
Unprofitable. The work that fills your heart probably won't fill your pocket. Do it anyway.
Villain- We see ourselves as the hero of our stories, but we are also the villain. We are cruel and judgmental. We look the other way. We don't speak up or take action when we should. We hurt the ones we love. We cut corners, cheat, take the easy way out, and sometimes deserve the criticism we receive. But then we pay for a stranger's groceries, care for an elderly parent, volunteer with kids, or take dinner to a neighbor. Hero and villain. Saint and sinner. Our human nature is made of both.
Xtremes- Politics. Pandemics. Protests. This is a year of extremes, but life will balance back out.
Yazoo City-You will always have roots here.
Zoo- I want one more trip with you to the Birmingham Zoo to watch the white tiger and play in the splash pad. Your childhood went by way too fast and some parts I would like to do again.
