Good News Indeed!

I’ll Live By My Standards … You Live By Yours

I received a very happy email last week from one of my favorite ex-boyfriends. After nine years (to the day) of dating his cool chick, they finally became engaged! Being a girl, of course I asked him for the gory details of the proposal, and what he wrote back not only was classically him, but a terrific reminder of how to live your life.

He wrote as a preface, “We'd always said we wouldn't get married as long as 10% of our friends were legally barred from doing so. So when the CA supreme court legalized gay marriage it kind of opened the door.” Think about this – how amazing is it to feel passionate about an issue, and to live your life accordingly! Some would argue, “What’s the point? Just because you’re protesting by not getting married yourself, it’s not going to change a thing with the law.” However, it’s up to each of us to stand up for what we believe, and by living our lives as an example of whatever ideal we are pursuing, we DO influence others around us. We saw powerful examples during the American civil rights movement, with peaceful civil disobedience. The sum of individuals living their lives according to their own sense of what is right has brought us further than any formalized initiative possibly could have.

Action Challenge: Know what you believe in. Once you've figured that out, follow your heart and live your life as the example you’d want to set, while doing no harm to others. Don’t be afraid to stray from the herd, if the herd isn’t going where you want to be. It’s that simple!

To every individual person who’s ever bucked the trend, in order to live their life according to their own sense of what is right, I salute you. Cumulatively, we’re one reason America is as strong as it is today. Happy Independence Day! … and congratulations again to the happy couple :o)

Cheers and all my best to you!
~Brooxi

"I became convinced that non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good."

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

© Stephanie Brooks 2008