Master of myself

We learn everyday, from everyone. But it's our choice what we learn and from whom. Unfortunately it's not so simple when we are kids or even teenagers, we get heavily influenced by our parents and peers. This is why we need to be aware at some point who we are, who we are becoming, what's good, what's wrong and who do we want to be. I'm not talking about a specific career path, I'm taking about the kind of human being we want to become, what will we value.

My father was (and probably still is, I don't talk to him) the biggest asshole I have ever met in my life. Or one of the biggest. Anyway, he's a racist prick. He always used nasty words to describe people of color with which I did not agree but was scared to say anything because he also had a very bad temper. So he tried to raise me as a racist too. Good for me, I have a brain of my own and occasionally use it so I figured out that it doesn't matter where are you from or what God/Gods do you believe in, or if you believe in any, all that matters is that you should be good to other people. It took me many years to actually come to this but I say it's never too late to try to become better. 

I believe it doesn't make sense to argue with people who refuse to at least try to see and understand your point of view. And the worst part is, when you are a child growing up with a parent who has a very short fuse and believes he's the only one to be right, you develop a fight or flight attitude. You flight when the parent's fuse is lit, and you fight with others because there at least you stand a chance. So you become the problematic child who fights with peers because A: you might actually win, B: yelling and aggression is what you have been taught at home. It takes years of isolation from the abusive parent to finally realize what the heck you're actually doing and most importantly, why. Once you realize that, you can start to change and maybe help others too.

I have that one best friend, she's younger than me and recently told me how she got angry and argued on the internet with some people about a topic they did not agree on. My advice? Don't argue with them. You won't change their minds, you'll only get angry and let them provoke you. Do not argue with stupid, narrow minded people because first they'll drag you down to their level, then win the fight by experience and people around you won't be able to tell the difference between you two. Become the better version of yourself by accepting that not everyone is smart or good, that you live in a world where some people are still following bad examples and patterns. But isolate yourself from them. If the society starts to exclude them, maybe they'll see that they are the problem, not you. Spread love and kindness, hell, be nice to them as you wish them farewell! 

But most importantly, be calm inside, be the master of yourself.