I am very familiar with the Dog Man series, especially since they are drawn and written by Dav Pilkey who is the creator and writer of the Captain Underpants books that Elloit and I love to read together. Dog Man is another book by him, but it's got a lot of the same type of humor that never gets old. I have seen them on the shelves at the bookstore and even grocery stores, but have never really looked into them. I am not sure if the Captian Underpants do the same thing at the ends of their books, but I read the book from cover to cover, and in the last few pages, the author says, here is a quote that inspired this chapter. The book itself, for as silly as it is has kind of a sad ending. Something you don't usually see in a children's book.
In the back of this silly little children's book, I found a profound quote that inspired on the of the chapters in the book, and when I read it, I knew I had to post a blog about it.
Here it is...
" Hate! It as caused a lot of problems in this world, but has never solved one!"
Look around the world, and even in our very own country. Hate begets more hate. Kindness, love, charity and understanding are the keys to having a safe and loving existence on this planet. Look at the country right now. The 2020 election process is going on, and I'm not the most political person, but I hate the comercials that slander other people. I never talk about politics because people can get so heated up about the candidates, and I just quietly read about the candidtaes, then I vote for the ones with good ideas over the comercials that say how evil the other candidate is for their comercials.
I had a great friend in high school who ran for student body elections. He wasn't very popular. He was quiet and shy and had a hard time making friends.When the election came around, my friend's opponent started posting posters and fliers around the whole school, and they didn't literally say one word about how he would make a good student body officer, they were mean and crude drawings making fun of my friend. So, the days went on, and on election day for the class and student body officers, my friend, the shy, quiet and sometimes a little nerdy ended up winning the election because he had more class, and didn't ever stoop to the level of the other, popular kid. I was in my senior class office as the Vice President, and I was so happy for my friend that one, and not only win, but in a landslide.
I hate bullying so bad. I was bullied almost non-stop from first to eighth grade. I was called names, people made fun of my mannerisms, and at the time, I had no idea what Asperger's was, and neither did anyone else really. Sometimes with Asperger's Syndrome, it can be hard for me to understand body language, It's also blessed me in a ton of ways, but little 8 - 15 year old Nate didn't know, and I was picked on and made fun of so much. Nowdays, you can go to see a psycologist and have them give you tests that help the doctor know what kind of mental disorder he was dealing with.
Now, my case is very mild. I can do just about anything anyone else can do, but my feelings and the way I think can sometimes be strange, and that's what got me beaten up. I am telling you these stories because of this:
In my life, I have had some incredible life experieinces, and even when things are so hard and you feel down and lost, I've been there too. But the way people define you is not how you have to define yourself. You have choicses in this life to either care, love and build someone else up, or you can treat them like garbage making it hard for them to the best person you can be.
When I was in sixth grade, there was a girl in my class named Amanda, and I won't divulge her last name. Amanda came from a very very bad home life. Her mom was a drug user and dealer, and she drank and beat Amanda up so much. One time her mom came into our classroom and she grabbed Amanda out of the classroom, into the hall and shut the door, but the door window as just a clear window, and the bottom of the door didn't reach to the very bottom of the door. Amanda's mother started screaming and yelling and swearing because she thought this little sixth grader girl took her stash of cocaine and took it to school with her, which was not even close to the truth, and then her mom started slapping her and kicking, and Amanda was screaming and crying, begging her to stop, and eventually my teacher called the cops, and came and arrested Amanda's mom, and rightfully so.
Amanda's mother was put in prison for a few years after that, but they found a really nice loving couple that ran a foster home, which Amanda ended up living in until her mother was released from prison, and at that time, she was sober. I promise, there is a reason I am telling you this story. Nobody ever wanted to play with Amanda. Poor Amanda smelled like cigarettes, marijuana and alcohol so strongly that people wouldn't play with her. I usually played basketball with my friends at recess, but one day as the recess bell rang for us to go outside, and Amanda was crying, and I stopped and asked her why, and she said she hated recess because no one every played with her, and she would go around a corner to another doorway where people never went, and would cry. I had seen it a lot, so I grabbed a red rubber 4-Square ball, and told her that I would really like it if she would play 4-square with me, or if she would just like to play catch, or sit and roll the ball back and forth. That was her favoirte, so we went out for our fifteen minute long recess and we rolled the ball back and fourth. My teacher saw me playing with her, and when we were going back into school, my teacher pulled me aside with a tear in her eye telling me how amazing I was for playing with Amanda. That made me feel really good that I helped someone who was in a desperate need of a friend. However, the bullies were super harsh on me for playing with her, and they made crude and disgusting jokes about her and me. It was hard to learn the concept when I was 11 years old that what's popular isn't always right, and what's right isn't always popular.
I was eventually able to bring Amanda around my friends at recess to play, and my friends were cool with it. About two years later, I learned that Amanda's mom and boyfriend had been drinking and using cocaine. Amanda was supposed to be back from her friend's house at 9:00 in the evening, but she was ten minutes late because her friend's mother lost the car keys, and finally found them, but it was after nine. Amanda's mom's boyfriend was really really drunk and high, and he beat Amanda to death, literally to death. Then he shot her mom, and and then saw the cops coming. He told them they got what they deserved, and he was able to struggle free from the police, and then shot himself in the head, dying instantly.
I went to the funeral for Amanda. I kept thinking about playing 4-Square and how it was one of the only times she was played with at recess at all until my friends started to accept her, which they did fairly quickly. I could turn this into a post about how bad drugs are, and child abuse issues, but I won't. I wanted to talk about the quote.
I'm a human being. I know that not everyone likes me, or vice versa. I think it's sad when people hate others for what seems to be no reason at all.
Hatred has never done anything but destroy your mind and your heart and every other good thing about yourself is diminished if you hate too much. There is something going on with me right at the moment, but I have always said this blog would be nothing but positivity, but sometimes it's hard to not just sit down and vent.
Hating someone is bad for our hearts and souls. Nothing good comes from hate. from my point of view, everyone that walks on this earth can be and should be loved and cared for. In almost every religion, it's taught that everyone has a spirit and soul and that they are just as loved by God, or their family or friends.
Hate is never an acceptable trait that you want to have. Hate helps neither the person or the thing you hate, or helps you feel good about yourself.
On the flipside, being kind, generous, loving, and just being a nice and good friend will help you prosper not with just friends, but your self esteem, your confidence, and your heart will grow and learn to love deeper than you ever have before.
Thanks for reading. Remember hate never solves anything on this planet that is worthwhile and good.
Uncky Nate, Out!!!!!
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