*Please watch the video link at the bottom first.
Let’s talk about labels.
I’m not speaking of the annoying kind that they put in our clothes, although I am not a fan of those, either- they hurt! The labels I am speaking of are the even more painful kind. The kind that mom used to tell us would never hurt us. But they do, don’t they?
” tall, short, fat, skinny, dumb, smart, rich, poor, ugly, pretty, disabled, impatient, grumpy, gay, callous, niave, outspoken, pessimistic, pathetic, obnoxious, loud, lazy, introverted, lustful, glum, incompetent (<–like those NFL replacement referees were called at the Seattle Seahawk game last Sunday).
Why do we insist upon labeling each other ? Calling each other names? Hurting each other? What great satisfaction do we get out of putting others down? Does it really make us feel better?
If you have never been a victim of someone else’s cruelty , count your blessings.
I was. I still am.
Therefore, I am trying to raise children who see people for who they are , and not what they are. And in doing that, I am constantly trying to make a better person of myself by paying more attention to the labels I place on others, as well. It’s not easy. Try paying attention to how many times you do it. I bet you do it and don’t even realize it. I couldn’t believe how many times I did it when I first started trying to pay attention to the amount of times a day I labeled someone.But like Jennifer says in the video, kids learn it from somewhere. I just don’t want mine to learn it from me. They can form their own opinions.
When I came across this video in the newsfeed on my FB, I felt I had to share it.
I understand that being severly overweight comes at the expense of the person’s health. That is not what I am ‘celebrating’ here… I also believe that Jennifer does a fine job of acknowledging her issue.
However, it is not *our* job to make fun of people who are different from us. It is not our job to make fun of people who have acne, or those who, through life’s circumstances are less fortunate than us, or those who have different colored hair or freckles ( I personally love my freckles!) or those who are left-handed ( again, me) , or those who are just a little bit different from ‘the norm’. Who are we to determine what is really “right”. What if in determining what is “right” we are wrong, and now the joke is on us? If we don’t end this cycle with our children, in this world of social media, when everyone is always looking at everyone else, this constant looking at and judging is only going to get worse.
I miss the days when TV actually went off the air at 2am and then there was nothing but the national anthem followed by some static and then finally some silence.
Jennifer knows about labels, like me, I bet she’s been hearing them for quite a long time. I love her line ” Do not let your self worth be defined by bullies… the cruel words of one are nothing compared to the shouts of many… ” ~ Jennifer Livingston
Kudos Jennifer.
Be Well.
*special thanks to my friend Kevin Brett at Soul Imagery for allowing me to alter one of the photos he did of me.
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