Like a Coupon

I see a lot of things in black and white. I don't like the word ambivalence and like the inaction of the word even less. I love it or I hate it, that's just who I am.

There are things that I believe in, things that in my life, in my world are non-negotiable.

When I make a promise, I am gonna keep it. It might not be immediate, it might not even be in this year, but I will move Heaven and Earth to keep my promises.

When I tell you something, you can be certain that it is the truth. Even if I come off looking bad, even if I know it will make you hate me, I will tell you the truth.

I am not going to say something to anyone else that I wouldn't be willing to say to your face. I am not going to talk smack or call you a B, unless it is something I would say to you (and it would take me a lot to do either).

Scare Bear claims that my expectations of people will only lead me to disappointment in life. I like to be right, a lot.

Here are my beliefs (or at least the ones that I can think of right now).

I believe in honesty.

I believe in putting others needs above my own. Because there is always someone out there that needs it more.

I believe in respecting people. Not because they are better than me, not because they are smarter, or richer, or cuter but because they are people and they deserve respect.

I believe in loving people. Not because I agree with them, not because their values are my values, not because they agree with everything I believe. It's what I have been called to do, it what we have all been called to do.

I believe in dignity. I am the daughter of a drug addict and  I live in a trailer in the woods. I make more money in 6 months of the year than my father made in any year of his WHOLE LIFE (bragger!). If I can have the dignity of getting a college education and working in professional level positions (not Burger King, not McDonald's), then there should be others that have the same right.

I believe in common courtesy. I like to be heard, I LOVE to hear my own voice, a lot, but I will let you voice your opinion and I will listen to you while you do it, I expect the same for myself.

I believe in fair play. I like to win, I'm not gonna lie, in fact if I could just be the winner from here on out on everything, I would. I am high competitive and, sometimes, a bad winner. But sometimes (like when you are playing a really cute 4 year old) it's not fair for me to win (even when she is holding the friggin' cards that she needs, or she just counted the wrong number of spaces), I try to recognize those times and adjust myself accordingly.

I believe that most people are good. Sometimes the world can hurt us, disappoint us, break us to the point that we think we may not be good anymore and I get that, but I think under all of that hurt, all of those scars, that there are still genuinely good people in this world. I try to use kindness to get through to them.

I believe that women are pretty awesome. Our bodies, our minds, our abilities, our talents, and our money are every bit as important as any man's. We should be afforded the same rights as any man. What you do with those rights is between you and God.

I believe in decency.

I am raising the Supergirl with these beliefs, I pray that there are other mothers in the world raising their children in a similar fashion.