One reason why I love working with kids is because they’re all so innocent. Their imagination is endless and their outlook on life makes me smile. They believe they can be anything they wish to be and are so joyful. One thing I wish for every kid is that they stay that way. Stay true to themselves and always believe they can do anything they want if they put their mind to it. I hope no one, child or adult, ever has to go through this dark never ending tunnel of loneliness and hurt. Although I can hope and pray for hours that this will never happen to anyone, the cold hard truth is, it can happen to anybody. It breaks my heart. Growing up I was always shy and quiet, I’d sit back and watch everyone else play on the play ground and have these amazing friendships with their classmates, but I would sit back and watch. For as long as I can remember I’ve always been sensitive, to everything. When I put my feelings into something it truly means something to me and for things to be ripped away from me or people turn their backs on me, it breaks me down. It makes me feel like I mean nothing and from all my experience, I always believe there’s someone out their better for my best friend/siblings/parents, etc. It saddens me because these little children that I watch, their so happy, but when they reach middle school I’m so scared that they will fall into this hole because their peers make them feel like they are’t good enough. This world is cruel and I believe we need to teach children that it doesn’t matter what size you are, if you like boys or girls, if you have acne, if you’re taller/shorter than most, it’s OK. Most importantly we need to teach acceptance. Just because someone doesn’t do something or believe in something that you do, doesn’t mean they have less self worth than you. From not teaching children these things we have lost so many innocent kids who are just trying to be themselves and be happy. From not teaching children these things we’ve taught them that it’s OK to bully the girl who may not be a size 3 or the boy sitting alone at lunch sorting out his Pokemon cards. We have taught people that it’s not ‘cool’ to be nice to those who you wouldn’t normally see yourself hanging out with on a Friday night. Why can’t we all realize how amazing it is that each and everyone of us has something so special that makes us so unique. Life would be so boring if we all stuck to this imaginary list of things that make you ‘cool.’ We need to start encouraging people to love who they are and love their interests. Every single person is going through a struggle, cut people a break. Accept people for their creative personality, see how much love and commitment they put into the things that love and enjoy doing. It will open your eyes to so many great things. Don’t be afraid to start that one thing that you’ve been wanting to do for months/years just because you’re afraid of what people will think and say. If you want it and you will enjoy it, and it brings happiness into your life, do it. Put your everything into it and love every second of it, if you don’t at least try you will never know what opportunities that may have come from it and mostly you’ll miss out on the feeling of being proud of yourself. You’ll look at your accomplishment and think why didn’t I do this sooner.
Xoxo, Kelly
