Just A Thought

by davebarclay1954

Have you ever come across someone who just blows your mind? There are so many people blogging nowadays on WordPress that I could spend my time fruitfully just reading blogs by others. In fact, most days now I do just that, I find some real gems hidden within my reader. I’m so blessed these days with the number of friendships and mutual appreciation of blogs that I have found. I truly am blessed to have so many people post their own, or share others, words of inspiration and reach out to try and make this a much better world to live in. My love goes out to all those who believe war is not an answer, even though it’s sometimes necessary to fight. I still don’t understand why so many look up to evil and want to spread its poison, there will always be those small minded people who don’t understand how or why we are all different, and how this should be respected if not revered.

Evil only understands force, that is why we need to be strong, but peace can be achieved, I believe, by teaching and showing the next generation love is stronger than hate. I’m just so blessed to have had such a wonderful mother who taught me well in the face of hatred surrounding us. I was born just after the huge conflicts which changed the world forever.

I lived through Vietnam, although I didn’t have an opportunity to go and fight, I saw how it polarised nations, I also witnessed racism from both sides of the coin. I saw how a lot of my friends were treated, by the so-called liberal, whites just because they were black. When I met my black girlfriend’s parents her mother was very welcoming but her father looked as though he’d eaten a wasp. A lot of my uncles were severely racist and anti-semitic whilst going to church every Sunday and Holy Day. My mother taught me how to laugh at the racists and to respect others no matter what they did, who they were, or the choices they made. I have tried to teach others, especially my children, to do the same.

A lot of people made the mistake of thinking that I am weak because of my choices, they often had a rude awakening. When I was at school bullying was a way of life and I chose not to feed into it. (I’m not sure if that’s grammatically correct). When I was in second year at secondary school, I made an effort to get in the line of fire when the older boys picked on the first years. This caused me a lot of short term pain but it was worth it to me. When I started in 3rd year to get an idea of my strength and ability to fight without fear, the bullying almost stopped completely. In my last year at that school there was only the 3rd and 4th years left. No fighting as both years looked forward to leaving school, some with jobs in the mines or factories and other’s with hope of a better life with some qualifications behind us.

To be continued…