Journal Entry #646

April 25th, 2012 

Today I read something on the internet that I very much disagreed with, posted it with my objections and I was going to write a post about it. I offered some of my thoughts on it and got this amazing response. To me this is more important right now but I will write about it later.

This really is the essence of everything for me and to see a young man like Keanu take it and run with it was a special moment for me.

I dedicate this blog post to his thoughts on the matter and I salute him..

My post;

Gary David Currie

Ok I am going to say something that most will disagree with and that is fine but I will say it anyways. I am not judging and this is my personal view on this.

 My entire life I have watched people give up in relationships from marriages, families to friendships when things did not turn out the way someone planned they cut and run. I think this is bullshit. If we so easily give up then what is the point of starting these relationships. It all takes work everyday and shit happens beyond our control
but the idea is to not give up during these times because that is when it really counts.

like I said this is just my view.. I would go to hell and back for those I love and I would not hesitate. I would fight for them to the end with all I have. For me my life would be empty without this commitment. I cannot control what others do only what I will do and that is what I will do….

I will do this because if I do not I can never ask this of anyone else when I need it and because I see this as the most important part of who I am. This is my integrity, my personal responsibility and what I hold myself accountable to.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1587204931&ref=tn_tnmn#!/notes/keanu-allridge/rant-on-appreciation/416428911720608

Rant on Appreciation.

by Keanu Allridge onWednesday, April 25, 2012 at 7:57pm ·

Part of the inspiration for this rant came from my friend Gary, who posted a status about his thoughts on commitment and appreciation of those closest to him. He’s a man who, like everyone else, has faced ups and downs in his life. But what sets him apart from a great many people is the way he is fueled by his love for his family — specifically, his two sons. This kind of dedication is beautiful to me, and, I think, sorely lacking in American society today (Gary is Canadian).

What this leads me to first is how I view my ideal relationship, whether it be romantic, platonic, familial, so forth. One of my most basic guiding principles when it comes to relationships is that you should only take as much as you’re willing to give; e.g. if someone close to you often performs little gestures for you to show you they care, you should reciprocate. For me it all comes down appreciation, which, in turn, is connected to loyalty. These two things form the basis of what I believe to be love. I know that I love someone when I would go out of my way to help them if they needed me, whether or not it was inconvenient. Such is love’s nature, I think. No matter what, though, appreciation is right at the core of it.

And this leads me to appreciation generally. I make it a point to try to spend just a little time each day being aware of how incredibly fortunate I am to live in the country I do, in the time that I do, and to have the friends and family I do. I may not like everything about this country or the people I share it with, but it’s a hell of a lot better than living in Wartornistan. Just the same, I may not agree with my friends and family on every little thing, but I love them regardless, because they would do what they could to help me if I needed it, just as I would for them.

But what I spent the majority of my time thinking about was my love for all of the now deceased family members whom I shall never meet. The ones I am descended from. I love them for all of the hardship they endured over the course of their lives so that I could be alive today. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about my family history from either side. But what I do know is that I am descended from black slaves and Jews.

I am descended from people who were stolen from their homelands by Bible-toting savages and sold as cattle. People who were forced to work in fields from the early hours of the dawn till the late hours of the night. People who were treated worse than dogs; whose backs were ripped and ravaged by the sharp cracking of whips. This country was built on the backs of these people, just as it was built on the graves of the victims of genocide. The blood, sweat, and tears of these people gave rise to the country I live in today, and I love them for it.

I am descended from people who lived their whole lives in a country that had never exactly been friendly to those of their ethnicity and religion (as many countries aren’t all over the world). These people were among those who were eventually labeled as rats and driven into the gutter. These people were forced into cramped, disease-ridden hellholes. They were shot in the streets, sent to death camps, and systematically gassed. They were exterminated like vermin. But my family escaped that, fleeing to a strange country with an entirely different culture. As a result of their actions, I am alive. And I love them for it.

Sometimes the people responsible for our existence mess up. Sometimes they screw up so royally that it can be nigh on impossible to forgive them. Some of us were and are constantly supported and loved, while some of us know only abuse from them. But no matter what, their choices have played an incredibly huge role in who we are today. Being dragged through the dirt sucks major balls, but it doesn’t have to break you. It can only rob you of your dignity if you let it.

And so we have to move forward, accepting the past for what it is and looking forward to the future. We have to let appreciation come full circle, from the most distant relatives to the closest friends, and finally back to ourselves. After all, if we don’t love ourselves, how are we to love anyone else?

Again Keanu I salute you..

Seek the truth always

Gary David Currie