On Giving a Damn

Today I saw this quote...

And at first, I thought, "Right on!"
But then it started to bother me. And bother me. And even after I walked away from the laptop, it was still bothering me.

At one point, many years ago, I didn't give a damn. And I wasn't happy.

And then I did give a damn. Too much, in fact, and about all of the wrong things. And I wasn't happy then either.

Honestly, I think you have to care. You have to "give a damn."

If we don't care about ourselves, that throws our life out of balance. If we don't care about others, the world becomes a pretty sad place.

There are things we shouldn't care about. The weight of other people's judgments. Other people's wrong opinions about us. Those were things I used to care about greatly. If someone said something negative about me, it threw me into a tailspin. After a while, after some growing up and soul searching and realizing that those people are just as messed up as I am, it just didn't matter anymore. Somewhere, I read that "what other people think of you is none of your business, " and it isn't. If someone thinks I'm a great person, great. If they don't, that's great too.

But on the whole, the world is a nicer place and we are nicer people if we care. There is too much wrong on this planet not to.

So, please, give a damn.

At least a little.