Fudddddgggeee, I'm 23

23 years ago I was born. It’s a bit odd, I really have no idea where the time went and I can’t even imagine what the next 23 years will be like. But the one thing that I can say for sure is that I am blessed. I’m blessed to be 23 years old, inexperienced and what some would patronizingly call naive. What my 23 years of “naivety” and lack of “real world experience” (whatever the heck that means) has afforded me is the ability to be audaciously idealistic.

Dear Self,

Happy Birthday.

I pray that you never lose hope. Hold fast to the belief that things can be better, that the world can be better. There are those who will tell you that these things simply cannot be done. They will try to package their pessimism as “realism” and claim wisdom. But be weary, their agedly wisdom is counterfeit and their capacity to hope boldy has been choked out by the fallacious “real world.” When someone tries to tell you that your efforts are foolish and unrealistic, I pray that you will respond with the same passionate defiance as the little boy with the starfish (http://www.starrbrite.com/starfish.html)

Stick close to those around you who, with their age, have not only grown wise but also increased their capacity for audacious idealism. Continue to believe fervently, as our good friend MLK did, that, “…people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and justice for their spirits….that what self-centered [people] have torn down, other-centered [people] can build up.”

Stick it to the man. Dream big and act often. Love liberally and spontaneously. Reconciliation is possible, peace is possible, justice is possible, the elimination of poverty is possible. Those who say otherwise are heretics and to which faith they belong is uncertain. Our God is one of audacious and attainable idealism.

Keep it Real. Much Love,
Yours Truly.