"There's a world of difference between hope and expectation. A hope is a vague wish, a fuzzy sense of something you want but can't quite see, because it isn't quite real. When it becomes clear as glass, then it's not a hope - it's an expectation" (23).
Rita tells a story about her life in Tennessee as a small child. She had been determined to be "learning-disabled" because she had a speech impediment. After moving to California for her mother to take care of her sick aunt, the school she was attending called home to ask her mother if she could skip two grades ahead. They had determined she was "gifted."
She said from that day forward she was gifted. She walked the walk and talked the talk.
I love this story so much! Nothing had changed with Rita. She hadn't suddenly become smarter or more capable over night. What changed was her belief in herself. We have to see ourselves as successful and brilliant and ignore all the negative chatter and gossip that tries to throw us off course. What other people think of us doesn't matter and frankly, is none of our business. We need to dream big and set our expectations in the sky. The only limits we have are the ones we place on ourselves.
I think about how I will raise my son to be confident, positive and a good human being in a world where meanness is often the norm. I think that the one thing I will teach him, always is that his worth comes from within. It's inherent; he was born with it. Nothing he can do will make him "less" of a person or limit him from becoming whoever he wants to become. I want to teach him that he always has a safe space for honesty with me - that if and when he messes up he isn't afraid to tell me because he knows I will love him no matter what.
I hope that we, as a society will learn that we are better together and recognize that a candle (or one of us) does not lose any light by lighting another candle.
xoxo
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