“I am going to die, sooner or later, whether or not I have spoken. My silences will not protect me, just as your silences will not protect you…. So what are the words you do not yet have? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you sicken and die of them, still wrapped in suffocating silence? … Yes, your speaking out will irritate some people.  It will get us called bitchy or arrogant or hypersensitive.  It will no doubt disturb some workrooms and it will no doubt disrupt some dinner parties … And yet our speaking out will inspire others to speak, and speak they will – and ignorances will be enlightened and laws will be changed and lives will be saved and the world will be altered forever for the better … So next time, ask yourself: What’s the worst that will happen if I stand for Justice?  What’s the worst thing that can happen if I speak up for Truth?  What’s the worst that can happen if I demand Compassion? And then after you ask yourself those questions, have the guts to do something about them — have the guts to push yourself a little further than you previously dared … True enough, once you start to speak up, people will yell at you.  They will interrupt you, they will scoff at you, they will put you down, they will turn their backs on you, and they will take offense and suggest it’s personal – and even when they do these things, the world won’t end – and you will still be left standing; though just a bit taller than before.  And thereafter the speaking will get easier and easier. And then you will find you have fallen in love with your Vision … Yes, you will lose some friends and lovers, and then you will soon realize that you don’t miss them – you will realize that the Vision and the Truth and the Struggle are far more important.  And it is at this point that at last you will know that it has all been more than worth it; indeed it is at this point that you will know with surpassing certainty that only one thing is more frightening than speaking your Truth — and that is not speaking it.” ~ inspired by Audre Lorde

Filed under: Practical Tips for Peace-full Living by Scaughdt