It takes time for a nation to grow into who they were always meant to be. We all go through stages like the humans that make us. When we are young we only think about ourselves, as we toddle around trying not to fall.
Then we get to an age where we begin to see ourselves in the context of others. We set aside our needs to follow them, because what they say influences how we see ourselves.
There comes a point where we become the target of bullying, so we find safety in a group of friends who always have our back.
There’s a point where we start trying to fit in with the bullies or the mean girls, because they seem to have all the power and people idolize power. I guess we just want some of that attention for ourselves.
The changes happen over the course of years until, one day, we notice a difference in our very makeup. The changes come quickly as parts of our bodies betray us and start changing what we always thought was immutable.
Our emotions and anxieties go on high alert and that’s when the fears begin to surface. Is this what I really want? Will I be happy when the changes are complete?
Fear and anxiety can quickly turn into hatred. Hatred of those close to you, hatred of ourselves. Then the most brutal attacks come, not from the bullies, not from our friends, but from within. They divide our hearts and turn us against ourselves.
It is during this phase that we will alienate our friends and act out in the most horrible ways imaginable, as we pick at our own scabs and open fresh wounds that we somehow think we can hide from the rest of the world but inside, we know they see it because we see it reflected in their eyes.
…and that is when we need to make a choice. Do we learn from this moment, or do we continue down the path to destruction?
~ elr
Image: ID 1624639 © Suzanne Tucker | Dreamstime.com