Making the World a Safer Place for Everyone to Be Themselves.
This morning I went on Facebook early to leave a message for a friend. I happened on three different posts that all came together for me to create today’s article.
The first was about a Calgary, Alberta area teen who found a hateful message on her locker. She was motivated to begin an anti-bullying campaign by spreading positive messages on all the lockers in her high school. Her message spread and people in businesses adopted it.
Perhaps you find it easier to care about other people and rally to support them, before you think about being more loving to yourself. I know I used to think that way. However, I have come to realize the kinder and more loving I am to me, the kinder and more loving I am to others. The less I judge myself harshly, the less I judge other people.
Just like they tell you on the airplanes, put your own oxygen mask on first when you’re flying with someone who is dependent on you. The same holds true in everyday life. We cannot give what we do not have.
… Or at least, we cannot give to the same depth we are able when we are filled up first.
So begin where you are and do what you can to make it safe for you to be your authentic self, fully expressed and sharing your magnificence in the world.
Spread the love to others. Send positive messages in the form of compliments, appreciations, thanks, “I care about you”, “you are amazing”, “I love your smile”, “I am thinking about you” etc. messages.
The second was a Huffington Post video asking why are we not doing more to remove the stigma of mental illness. “That’s the question posed in a new video from Newfoundland and Labrador musician Amelia Curran that stars just about every celebrity you can think of from The Rock.”
I doubt I know a single person who hasn’t wrestled with some form of mental illness at one time or another in her/his life. I’ve had bouts of depression; lost loved ones to suicide, watched friends do their best to care for their family members with severe mental illness, and seen grief turn into despair after a personal loss.
And, I am certain you can say something similar.
So let’s do our part to make mental health a higher priority in our world. I invite you to help me spread the word that we want to see people who need help be able to access that help. Let’s support campaigns to take the stigma off mental illness, fully fund research and programs of support so everyone can live the best lives possible.
Remember those who are deemed “different” and therefore, in some people’s eyes, “less than” are just like you and me in God’s eyes. Let’s help spread the love to everyone and be more like the spirit we really are.
Love yourself and be a role model to others of how to treat people with loving kindness.
The third, seemingly unrelated post came from author Elizabeth Gilbert and hers was on being authentic.
And that’s what I believe is essential right now. Stand up as you really are. Speak out and tell the world what you think and what is important to you. Be the silly child, the gifted artist, the open-hearted helper, the bossy, opinionated one that got shut down when you were young. I guarantee there is a gift in your authentic self that the world needs from you.
Don’t let the bullies or the well-meaning, but unaware adults, or whomever it was that told you to stop being you hold you back any longer. Express and claim your magnificence and as you do so, you make it safer for others to do the same.
Warmest, Rosemary