Day 35 & 36: 40 Days & 40 Nights of Lenten Kindness

"The best think you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing." - Theodore Roosevelt

Lent Day 35: It's Holy Week, the week before the crucifixion of Christ. Not a lot is mentioned about what Jesus was doing before the last supper, but we know that something shifts from Palm Sunday to Good Friday. I feel that this happens in our own lives. Things can swiftly shift in a week and even in a day.

After my day of "self-pity," I realized that I can't continue to beat myself up, for something I'm not truly sure I think I should be beating myself up over. Buddha said, "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned." I feel as if I'm the one who is suffering over all the unfriending and blocking. That some how, I'm a terrible awful person with absolutely no redeemable qualities. I know in my head this is not true. The worst part about all of this is the fact that, I care about these people, so much that what they think about me actually matters. I know in the end, what I think about myself is what matters the most. I try my best to be a good and kind person, and try to show compassion and kindness towards others, even to the ones society deems to not deserve compassion or kindness. We all deserve compassion and kindness. We all deserve to feel loved and to know we are lovable.

There will come a day when the universe will reveal the great lesson of this situation, and the clouds will part and the light will shine through. I believe, as long as our intentions always come from a place of love everything will be as it should be, and we will all be happier for it.

Lent Day 36: A youth that I mentor requested for me to go to her high school and give a presentation to her diversity group about the anti-marriage amendment. I believe whenever someone request for me to give a talk, I should say yes.

I really felt that the students were very open and responsive to what I had to share with them. I think they walked away more knowledgeable about the topic of the anti-marriage amendment in order for them to have better conversations with each other. Do I think that they will actually go out and organize to help defeat the anti-marriage amendment? Probably not. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out ways to encourage students to be less apathetic and empower them to create change in their own lives. I hope some day, I will find what the right thing I can say to really impact students, which will get them to jump up from their chairs and want to change the world. I have hope, everyday!