Saturday, April 7, 2012

Accept Me

Everybody wants others to accept them for who they are. So often, that isn't the case. The 'world' wants to dictate how people, that live in it, should look and act. I am reminded of a young woman I met in Holland. Her appearance was much different than other people her same age. It appeared as if she intended to be different. The more that I got to know this woman, the truth was made apparent to me. Her style was hers and she wasn't about to let everyone else tell her how she was going to be. I admired her strength to be a good person and to have her own sense of style without worrying about what others thought of her. I like to go the through the hallways of the High schools and Junior High schools and look at the varieties of styles amongst the young people. There will always be those kids that think they know what the latest and greatest styles are and that the kids who don't conform a certain way are not cool. I say to all kids, be who and how you want to be! Especially, if it is good and decent. The majority of the kids want to feel like their styles are validated. We live in a time when 'self-expression' is huge in the sight of the young people. I like that, in most instances. When I was in Junior High, there was a particular brand of shoes that were worn by the 'popular' kids. I knew that the shoes were expensive so I never did make mention of them to my parents. It didn't seem to matter that much to me, but I wanted to be accepted for who I was and not for the brand of shoes that I wore. I have a firm belief that people need to be treated for who and how they are. The 'childish' acts to not be accepting to everyone need to be a thing of the past. There should be no place for these acts. We have discussed, many times over, that our children should be loving and accepting to all people. When they grow up and leave our home, they should know how to properly treat, and accept, everyone. All people should be able to be themselves. We ought to have the desire to treat others exactly how we would want them to treat us.