Hello kids,
Today I’m writing to you because I want you to know how much I love and care for you, and how I want the best that this life can offer for you – physically, emotionally and yes, spiritually.
I have seen too much heartache in this short amount of time that I have been on this earth and I hope and pray that you will not be a victim to it.
Today I wish to bestow a bit of wisdom and knowledge towards you – wisdom and knowledge I wish I knew when I was growing up.
There is a wise saying that points out that you have to be the person you needed when you were younger and today I want to be that person for you.
A strong, independent, confident and yes, worthy human being. I am worthy. It took me a long time to come to this conclusion and I really hope that it doesn’t take you that long. We are worthy.
Don’t let society make your decisions.
Dear kids,
I find myself in a society in which women – despite their so-called equality and independence – are dictated on what to wear, what to look like and what to act like. When you are part of the crowd, you don’t notice your minion-like behavior in order to receive acceptance. However, once the scales fall off of your eyes, you see not only the frustration of keeping up to this social standard, but also the pain and the torment each girl or woman goes through while pretending to be something she is not.
For who and for what? A man who’s attention spam on you lasts no longer than a few minutes, until the next sexier, more willing girl comes along? Forcing you to make a decision: Do I walk away or do I throw myself further down this dark pit of a dictated standard?
The pain I see in girls no older than 13 scare me, because I know that one day you will be faced with the same kind of pressure they are faced with, and how can I possibly prepare you for those pressures? The pressures are everywhere from magazines, to kids television channels, to schools and every other system you can possibly think of out there.
The best I can do is to tell you each and every day that you are worthy. You are worthy of true love and affection, you are worthy of acceptance for the beautiful person that you are – the world is quick to say they accept you for your individuality, but we see so many people succumb to the ideal picture society compels us to be, with no thought as to how this ruins our identity and eventually our feelings of worth in this life.
You are perfect in your individuality.
I want you to know that there is absolutely nothing wrong or ‘faulty’ with who you are and what you look like – you are fearfully and wonderfully made with an impenetrable light inside you. That light is your individuality and that is your invincible strength – don’t allow any one, no man nor woman to kill that light.
Allow that light to become a blazing fire igniting all those who are blessed to be in your company.
Without a thought to it, give others permission to be themselves.
It is in this freedom that you and those around you will be able to experience a peace and stillness this world is chasing but has no idea where to find.
Go live your life and live it authentically – only then will you find true happiness.
Be careful not to judge those who submit to pressure, but be the guiding light that helps them out of that pain and confusion.
The world can be a nasty place that brings a lot of pain and torment, but it can also be a beautiful place that brings a lot of healing and love – it all depends on how you choose to look at it.
I believe Denzel Washington said it best: “At the end of the day it is not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished…It’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.”
The society I find myself in is very self-involved and perhaps that is one of the reasons we so easily fall victim to all the ugly onslaughts of this world.
We don’t know that we are worth more than that slap on our butt, worth more than those desperate touches and yes, worth more than those tainted tears we cry every time we are abandoned or rejected.
It is time to remember that we all are stars born from the universe, human beings with a light and a purpose – it is time to live it!
I love you, all of you.
Your zany Daddy,
Bobby K.H. Ong
