Tuesday; September 22

As I look back on my life, I realize how much I have changed. When I think about some of the attitudes I had a college student I see how my personality, background and age contributed to beliefs I no longer hold. Led by the petulance of youth, biases bred by my environment and my own personal views; I said, did and believed things that I have come to disavow. As I look back on myself from decades ago, I can do a couple things – I can be frozen by the limitations of the person I used to be or I can build on who I have become to create a better individual in the future.
I share this self-assessment with you to encourage you to grow and develop on your own, but also as a challenge to us to view today’s world with less criticism. When it comes to many of the social issues we face, we are not where we should be; however, we are a lot closer to it than where we were decades ago. Sometimes it might not feel like it, but when we analyze our development, we have made progress. It is easy to look back in history and criticize where we have been or look at our belief systems today and see our flaws; but our goal must be to continue maturing. We must not be paralyzed by the social embarrassment of the past; we must build on the advancements we have made and continue moving forward. By sharing information about where we can go rather than exchanging insults about where we have been, we can make our communities and our country the best places they can be.
Are we there yet? No, but when we consider the journey we have been on, we are closer than we have ever been.

Think About It!

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