I Want To Get Into Some “Good Trouble.”

I have been sitting here in absolute awe of the way the country has divided itself on the equality issue. I am looking around our once great country and I am almost sad to be a part of it. I grew up basically with my head in the sand. My mother regulated everything I watched, where I went, everything. She did not want me to be hurt by this world. I can remember watching movies when I was grown and wondering why I could not remember them ending the way they did. I found out a while later that my mother went so far to protect me for the horrible things in the world, that she would tape movies off of tv and just change the part where it ended so that it always had a happy ending.

You might think that is a little nutty, but looking back on it now and knowing what I know about loving your children, I know that her heart was in the right place. She just didn’t want me to be touched by the hard things in life that she knew existed. Ignorance is bliss isn’t it? It is much easier to get by in the world if you do not think about the bad things around you and just focus on what you need to do for you and yours. I love my mother. It will always be her an I against the world.

That being said though, as an adult I have realized that her way of thinking doesn’t do anyone but us any good, and therefore it is not the correct way of thinking. I have been trying to find ways to better the lives of everyone I come across since that day. That may be part of what led me to want to be a nurse. I do not believe that we were put on this earth to be selfish, or blind to others suffering. I want to leave this world with others being able to tell stories about how we helped make it better. I do not want to be known for keeping to myself and standing by while others are mistreated.

I have been going through my own struggles and my own health issues that have kept me from being a part of many marches and protests, but I have been trying to keep pushing the message that what is happening is not ok. It is not ok to hurt another human being just because you can. It is not ok to stand by and watch someone else get hurt just because you do not want to be involved. It is not ok to stand by and not be counted. It just is not ok.

I saw this tweet today regarding John Lewis. I wish that I had been able to follow his work and his legacy more when I was younger. I wish I would have been tuned in to the troubles of others and taught about social inequality when I was younger. But that is neither here nor there. Mr. Lewis message is inspiring. He told stories about the many times he had been arrested standing up for what he believed in. He spoke about all of the wonderful things he had been a part of on the other side of the table as an adult and how he had been taught to “get into good trouble”. He was brought up to stick up for what is right, no matter the personal gain, or lack there of. Right was right and wrong was wrong and someone, everyone needed to do something about it.

This is the message I want to leave my children and my grandchildren with. I want them to stick up for what is right. I want them to fight all evils, regardless if it betters their own life or only the lives of others. I want them to be the kind of people that our country states we are. It is never too late for you to start getting involved. It is never too late for you to change the way you think or handle situations. You can teach an old dog new tricks. We need to keep having the conversations. We need to keep taking the risks and sticking to our guns. We need to make this world a better place. All lives cannot matter if they don’t all matter. We just end up with NO LIVES MATTER. So please stick up for Black Lives Matter, and for all of the others that have not reached equality. It isn’t ours to withhold. We are no better than anyone else. None of us are. Stop acting like we are. Don’t teach your children hate. Teach your children to love others, but more importantly, teach them to stick up for what is right. We can only end the hate by valuing human life, all of it.

I am doing what I can to help all people who are oppressed. Join me. Start by watching this.

I will talk to you soon,

Kelly