Wrapping Up August!

Wrapping up August - Blue for Peace!

Well it's the end of the month and I have had some interesting chat sessions and discussions with youth and young adults about Peace and the color Blue. Here's how August went down:

Week 1 - We started the month with chats about Inner Peace which is where the pursuit of peace begins. Inner peace is vital to an overall sense of well-being, safety and purpose in life and without it you will probably be upset a lot about trivial matters and possibly causing unnecessary strife that can spiral out of control all because you have no peace inside. So youth learned how to cultivate inner peace, make it a priority and how to lock it inside for their own sake but also to share it with those they encounter so their aura invites and welcomes others to bathe in their peaceful persona. They also learned that drugs, alcohol, excessive sex, weed, porn, theft, jealousy are all anti-peace. They may seem to soothe you temporarily but that soothing turns into a yearning for more and more and more and if you are not careful an addiction will be born and what’s worse than someone telling you what to do all the time? An addiction telling you what to do all the time. You don’t exist anymore and that can’t be peaceful at all.

Week 2 - We chatted about being a Peacemaker. Taking the time to make peace with others should be at the top of everyone’s list. We are all different and that means we will not always see eye to eye nor agree on everything and when this happens it’s ok and it’s not the end of the world or the relationship. Some people can’t handle any strife or discord at all and they take off at any sign that something is wrong and a possible argument could break out. Arguments can be good and sometimes a great opportunity to bring peace to the situation. Youth learned that you don’t want to argue just to get your point across but also to give the other person the benefit of the doubt and allow their perspective and point of view to come out so you can listen without judgment and keep the peace. We are not always right even if we think we are.

Week 3 - We chatted about being the Change you wish to see in the world – World Peace. Despite all of our wars over the years we still find a way to bring peace to our land. We have holidays to celebrate milestones, landmarks and victories. We come together to pray for our nation on one day out of the year, we join forces and feed the homeless or hungry and give of our free time to serve those less fortunate than we are. Some of us go way out of our way to become heroes and all of these things are being the change we wish to see in the world. But World Peace is still an effort we all must continue to sign up for. Youth learned that they are a piece of a giant puzzle and whatever efforts they put into bringing peace to our world will spread to others and help fill the gap we need to finish the puzzle. One person at a time, piece 2 peace.

Week 4 - We chatted about making a plan for Peace. This was a fun week with activities to make plans to create peace starting in the homes, schools, neighborhoods, communities, and wherever we tread on a day to day basis. Youth learned how they can stop a fight with loving words, they learned how they can resolve differences with understanding hearts, they learned that diversity is beautiful but we all have the same color blood flowing through our veins so we are connected, and they learned that every effort towards reconciliation, towards forgiveness, towards love and kindness just because is an effort to build and execute change for the sake of peace. We all have that opportunity every single day.

This special virtual workshop will be a part of the Youth Center when it opens and youth and young adults will enjoy time doing “Peace Work” and role playing to work on keeping the peace in their families and relationships and to remember strangers just want to be accepted. We are all a stranger to someone and if we reach out with human kindness and love in our hearts for the sake of peace we can make a difference, a ripple effect will be born, and our land can be a giant holder of peace. Thanks for sharing your peaceful and loving hearts and ideas with me. Stay tuned tomorrow to see the big reveal for September’s color and theme (hope to see some new youth signing up). Until next month......

Tootles!