Amanda's Blog/pins/rants

Haters

They will hate you. Someone, somewhere, sometime, will hate you. It is going to happen at some point in your life, probably several times. You can’t be nice enough, or good enough, or scary enough, or bully enough, to prevent them from hating you.

Why will they hate you? So many reasons, here are just a few.

They may hate you for the color of your skin, your sexual orientation, that you’re prettier than they are, that you’re uglier than they are, more popular, less popular, your religion, your lack of religion, that you’re more successful than they are, that you’re less successful than they are, that you are a better athlete than they will ever be, that you’re a worse athlete than they are now, that you dropped a ball, you caught a ball, you ran a touchdown, you fumbled a touchdown, that you write better than they ever will, that you have a happy family & they don’t, that your married & they want to be, that you’re single & they want to be, you have kids, you don’t have kids, you have a bigger house than they do, better job, no job, a lot of money, very little money, your grammar doesn’t meet their standards, you’re taller, shorter, too loud, too soft spoken, getting more sex than they are … The list goes on forever.

Don’t let the hatred get you down, or stop you from doing what you need to do, just do it, be yourself, & let them hate you. They will hate you no matter what you do, just don’t let that hatred, that envy, that jealousy, do anything, but let you know you are you, & since the only thing you can be is yourself, let them hate you. Let them eat their own hearts out with envy. Let them choke themselves on their feelings of inadequacy that they project on you. Let their jealousy blind them to their own highest truth. Let their self-loathing use you as a substitute for themselves. Let their fear narrow their world & destroy their own possibility of happiness. Know that hate breeds only bitterness & failure in the end. Do not hate them back, because then they own you. Don’t give them any power in your life. Don’t try to understand them, because if you are doing what you are most meant to do, following your greatest & best path in your life, you will have no time to hate, you will be too busy living.

—-Laurell K. Hamilton

(Source: laurellkhamilton.org)

It angers me when people demonize something they don’t want to take the time to understand. Knowledge is power, knowledge is enlightenment! Knowledge frees us from the slave chains of ignorance. We humans fear the unknown and what we don’t understand. And what we fear, we tend to demonize. Some people fear spiders, or snakes, or heights and in their minds these things are ‘evil’. It’s by facing these fears that we overcome our demons and they cease to haunt us. Knowledge turns our fears to dust. But throughout history and even in these modern times, there are those who would take the easy road and victimize, ridicule, and try to hurt those things they don’t understand and therefore fear. The road to knowledge and the freedom it brings us isn’t easy. It requires us to look at ourselves, our surroundings, and the people next to us. It requires us to reevaluate previous misconceptions. But it is only by facing our demons and seeking truth and knowledge do we set ourselves free of them. It is only by refusing to hid under the covers and turning on the light, do we see that the thing we thought was a monster in our closet was just a pile of blankets. So, the next time you come across something you immediately want to demonize or ridicule, take the time to learn more about it than what is just on the surface. The knowledge you gain by learning more about it might just confirm your first impression. BUT, it also might show you that your reaction was based solely on unfounded fear. Either way, you win. You only lose if you give into the fear of knowledge. Don’t let fear of something run your life. It is only when you conquer your fears can you experience and enjoy all life has to offer. Instead of hiding under your covers and waiting for the ‘monsters’ to go away.