It'll Be Alright

I stopped watching the 11:00 news because the bloody images and megativity it boasted began to disturb my sleep. I catch some of it sometimes still by accident, when checking the weather, but I make a conscious effort to avoid it because it makes one feel such despair about the state of the world. How can we see this every night and have hope for our future? I find it difficult.

But there are little sparks of light to be found elsewhere.

There are so many people on my FB that are back in school, trying to better themselves, I cant help but be optimistic.

There are so many people coming to the aid of Haiti, I cant help but be optimistic.

And today my daughter decided that she wanted to be the first female African-American President. Even if she only decided it because I told her (to her surprise) that no one had ever done it before LOL Im proud that she would even believe enough in herself to say it out loud. She will probably want to be 90 other things in the next month, but this is the one I'm gonna remember, and should her face one day be plastered all over the TV, even if its only (only LOL) as a Congresswoman, I will flash back to the freeze frame of her smile tonight and be just as proud. Shoot for the moon and land among the stars and all that, you know.

She started asking a million questions about why Nelson Mandela was imprisoned and why Dr. King was assassinated, and how did we get all these rights if people didnt want us to have them, and my explanations to her created just a few moments where I saw her listening intently, trying to understand the struggle. At 8, that is no small feat, but she was truly trying. I ended by telling her that because of everything I had just said, she can never forget to vote, and she can never be satisfied when something is being imposed upon her that she feels in her soul is not right. "A lot of people died for you to have these rights," I said, "so never forget." "Ok, Mommy," she said.

Oh....... *pause*...........I cant help but be optimistic.

All it takes is a few good sparks. My baby is one of them, and she is gonna do great things. Mark my words. Maybe the world isnt going to hell in a handbasket. Maybe it is and I have just chosen to set my eyes on the silver lining.