Old, dusty, ingrained belief system: If you can’t be a part of the solution, then please don’t be a part of the problem. New (and improved!) belief system: If you choose not to a part of the solution, perhaps it might be time to take a look at why the problem keeps coming up.

I used to scrunch my face up when I would read a post or have a conversation with people who would spit out clichés. Yep, the glass is half full, half empty. What if the glass isn’t a glass, it’s a water bottle? Is there some other cute anecdote for that? Now that I’ve said that, I am that person. Am, not was; however, I’m aware of it and that counts!

Why are old habits so hard to break? There are many things my Mom used to say, that I truly did not understand and that annoyed me; so much so that have insisted on repeating them!??! Others, not so much. Who really needs to know, what “I Love you a Bushel and a Peck” means? Ok, apparently, I do because I just Googled it. The webpage that came up is called, “Southern Grins and Sunshine.” You see where I am going with this? We get these little ditties in our heads from our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousin and the like. Growing up, I loved hearing these and I wouldn’t stop and ask what they meant, because they meant something to the person that was saying it and that was enough.

Then I grew up. Ok, I got older. I began to parrot what I had heard from my childhood and took this way too long into adulthood. I pride myself on having a good memory. I’ve even said to my friends, “If you tell me your ATM password, money could go missing.” But what I also did was talk the talk (see first and sentence, above), and that at times, that is just downright annoying. I would say things I didn’t really believe. I would feel say I felt a connection to a writer, poet, and author without ready more a sentence, paragraph or even a meme. I’m not saying that that is right or wrong. What I am saying that worked for me, until it didn’t.

I love Instagram. I find that Instagram is a happy, softer take of social media. Maybe it’s because I can follow who I want to follow without being someone’s friend. Perhaps the word friend is another skewed word that seems to change every day. As a child, my friendship started out something like this… a: do you like to swim? b: do you have a swimming pool? c: can you ask you Mom when I can come over and swim? Yep, that’s all it took to be my friend. Today, my prerequisite (using big words, now that I am an adult), is a: are you a nice person? Big, tough question – which I don’t really ask – but do secretly whisper to myself.

Maybe I’ll start asking that question that I believe we all really want to know and see what type of answer and wide-faced emoji I may get in return. If you say no, “I’m not nice.” I will respectfully say, Peace. If you say, “I think I’m nice.” I will gladly say; would you like to meet for coffee?

Let’s be our own judge. Let’s have our own standards. Let’s just be ourselves. And, if I hear you saying something that you grandmother used to say, chances are my response will be, “Tell me more.”

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My resolve is to write about experiences and awareness that I had throughout my life. Many things have been revealed to me and I am excited to share them with you. It is my belief that we are all just walking each other home and I am willing to hold your hand through the process.

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On the first page of my website, is my contact information. I would be honored to hear about your experience, strength and hope with a situation or situations that you thought you would never be able to get through, but did!

Purely,

Kim