Black, White, and Everything in Between

The Bishop of my church made a good point yesterday about Martin Luther King, Jr. Most people only know Dr. King's 'I Have a Dream' speech. The truth is he had several speeches that were just as good as that one and expressed the movement in better words. When Bishop said that, I thought about memories. It's common to only remember one thing or aspect about a person. Although it's nice to be able to remember at least one thing about a person, it's not always the smartest things to do. Where it gets danger is when you judge that person on only that one thing when you know you've seen multiple sides of them.

For example, you may have a favorite relative and hence, only have good thoughts of that person. If you were brave enough to flip the coin, maybe that relative was good to you, but you saw them be mean or nasty to others. The opposite of that example would be having a relative that just did you dirty and in that instance, you only see bad. However, maybe in small ways they've been trying to make up for that bad experience, but you being you, still want to remember them for that one time and not the possible good times you could have if you just chose to forgive and forget.

There are many sides to people and if you're blessed and they are someone you truly love, you may get to see various sides. I can honestly say that the people closest to me have seen me at my worst and best and everything in between. And although I often feel foolish and embarrassed about the worst moments, I'm glad they saw them because I want them to know the real me. I have good tendencies and not so good tendencies and how can we be really close if you never got to see some of each.

People sometimes want to put you in a bubble and depending on the situation, the bubble might be the best place to live. However, if you are always placing people inside certain bubble, how are they going to breathe? When are they ever going to get to show you the different sides of them? Talents are one area where once someone finds out you can do something, that's all they want you to do. Little do they know you have multiple talents and abilities. It's important that you give other people the chance to show you more about them and also that you show more of yourself to others.

Unfortunately, I had to work today. If I would have had the day off, I can't say that I would have done anything that Dr. King would be proud of. I only know that today I got to go to a job where I got a wear many hats in the span of eight hours. Today, my talents weren't totally wasted; I was a writer, a graphic designer, a customer service rep, a researcher, a friend, and an Excel princess. Think about all of the different people you get to be in one day. Do you like those 'people'? Is there more you want to share? Well, if so, good news. You have tomorrow to show those sides of you; the black, white, and everything in between.