You Can Change Your Future

This is Reggie Dabbs. We watched one of his motivational speeches in health class.

     SE's post a few days ago inspired me to write about a corresponding topic of my own. She touched on the idea that we don't know what every one's personal and home life is like, and we're often very quick to judge someone even if we don't know their situation, which is all too true. I, of all people, know this very very well. I will not even try to deny that I'm a very persnickety, skeptical, often unforgiving person-- and this is all before I even know a person very well! I have misjudged people far too many times, so lately I've been trying pretty hard to give people the benefit of the doubt. It's true: I don't know most people's situation and home life, so I shouldn't jump to any conclusions. However, there are some people I do have an idea of what their home life is like, and in those cases there are some things that really irk me. One thing I cannot stand is when I see someone who's life at home is unacceptable or unhappy and that person seems to think that because of their home situation, they're doomed to have the same life in the future as they have in the present. That is so unbelievably untrue. Even if you live in a house with an abusive father and a negligent mother, or you come from extreme poverty, or a long line of drug and alcohol abusers, YOU have the ability to change your life. I see this mentality every day: a kid who is so obviously intelligent thinking that they have no chance in the world just because of where they come from or who their parents are. Listen to me: what you make of your life is absolutely no one else's concern but your own. If you let things like the demons of your past get in the way of the incredibly bright and promising future, you're letting an amazing lifetime slip away. In the words of motivational speaker Reggie Dabbs "You can't change your past, but you can change your future."
     A great example of this is Jeannette Walls, author of the book The Glass Castle. She came from an absolutely wretched home-- a hopelessly drunk father and a mother stuck in a horrible fantasy world that would never come true. They squandered all their money on pointless frivolities, and never loved their children as much as they should have, but the Walls children (all but one) knew that their future didn't have to be a repeat of their past and pursued their dreams all the way to New York City where they made their way up the social latter and turned their lives around. So there's a true example right there that it is absolutely possible to have a great future even if you had a sucky past.
     Another thing that people get stuck in their head is that no one loves them or no one cares about them. I am absolutely convinced that everyone in the world has at least one person who loves them, and even one single person loving you is absolutely wonderful. Maybe you don't know them, maybe you've never met them, but someone out there loves you very much. It's just that many people get lucky enough to have the people who love them surrounding them every day, but if that's not the case for you, it doesn't mean no one loves you. Guess what? I don't even know who the heck you are, but I love you with every fiber of my being, whoever you might be. And Reggie Dabbs loves you too! He says so in his speeches! (You should look him up). He also says that "Love can make your scars go away". That is absolutely 100% true. Maybe you think that no one loves you, but that doesn't mean you can't give someone else love. If you love others, others will love you. That sounds like some dumb poster hanging up in a school hallway, but it's true! Give love, receive love, reap the benefits. It's as easy as that. So, now that I've got all that off my chest, here's a movie recommendation for you.

Movie Recommendation: Where the Heart Is. This movie illustrates exactly the point I'm trying to make. Novalee Nation, a broke, pregnant teen, came from an awful home with a manipulative mother, an a-hole boyfriend, and lots and lots of just plain bad luck and met people who loved her unconditionally and accepted her without even asking what her past was like. Love made her scars go away.

                                         -VaughnDL

P.S. I fixed my This or That Book Tag because somehow I totally skipped two whole questions??? Check out the new and improved version (with correct spelling and all the questions!) here.