Youth Leadership Camps Canada

I wander down the street, enjoying the sunshine, my soul is warmed by the sun and the full day that was ahead of me. I wait in line for a tea at the local fair trade coffee shop. I stand behind a woman in her late twenties. She turned to her friend and said “This weather sucks, so frickin’ hot. I hate it, I really hate it.”

This actually made me say out loud, “Really? Really? No? Really?”

She turns and glares, I look at the price on a bag of coffee and point, smile.

Behind me a couple of teenage brothers are very grumpy busy complaining that their parents wouldn’t buy them the new iPod’s. This made them very upset.

“Mom is such a B!&CH! I asked her like three times, I even took out the garbage today. Man I hate her!”

Again, I repeat (this time in my head), “Really? Really? No? Really?”

Hey whiners, STOP! Most people in this country have NO idea the beautiful life they have been given. I once, complained to a friend about not getting what I want, I was depressed. Feeling empty. She simply smiled and said two of the most important words that I remind myself of every single day. Those words, find joy.

If you think it’s bad please move to Afghanistan. Otherwise, enjoy your clean drinking water, you freedom to travel, the sounds of birds and not bombs, the freedom to dress with as little clothing as you want, to shop in grocery stores full of fresh foods, to walk into a public library and READ, to vote freely, to own an iPod, iPad to have eyes. To simply be whom you want to be. This idea has been repeating itself over and over again in my head for months.

In the winter it’s to cold, the summer to hot, the spring to wet, the fall sucks because the winter is coming. Our jobs are unfulfilling, our parents are unfair, our teachers are mean, adults “don’t get it!” Young people just waste it. We spend our youth wanting to be older and our adulthood wishing we had done more when we were young. This is a never ending cycle. It’s human nature right? Just the way people are. Never quite having enough. The internet connection is not fast enough and there is nothing on TV.

Here is the idea that I wish we could all embrace. Find joy, move forward, learn from our lessons, celebrate our freedom, help someone in need and laugh often. Care, listen, love and say thank you. Find Joy, find peace, find beauty. Embrace what’s right. Be STUpendous. Don’t get caught up in extremes. Don’t judge. Be you, be fair. There are no extra people on the planet. You matter, you can count, you really do count, be happy that you learned to count. Life is hard, life is equally sweet, life is a choice. You are who you spend time with. The past is gone, the future is unknown and today is a gift that’s why it’s called the present. Be the change, be the example, be, simply be.

In the end you will succeed if you choose. Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it.

Breathe, dream, find joy.

Yes, it’s really, really just that simple. Really.