Positivity: Everybody Matters

Everybody matters.

Black or white, male or female, big or small, fat or thin, rich or poor, gay or straight or in-between – you matter.

We all are important in our own ways, and we all have an equal deserving of rights and protections and such. Everybody matters.

Some communities, groups and cultures are more privileged than others. This is true whether you care to accept it or no, but for some the struggle to matter is easier and does not require added work or attention. No one group is greater or lesser than another, and as such all matter.

This is a tremendous positive in the world. We all matter, we are all important and all worthy of not being taken for granted. No one should be marginalized or degraded or disregarded based on skin color, gender, sexual preference, religion or any-other artifice.

This is not to say that everyone should get participation awards. Merit is a thing, and not everybody wins just by showing up. This is a law of nature, and while we can work to fabricate something else we are going to have winners and losers. But both the winners and the losers matter, as each is still worthy of being treated with fairness and thought.

Whatever end of the scale you may land on, you matter. Your life, your aspirations, your hopes and dreams and goals all matter. You deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, no matter your social class, you employment, your race, religion, creed, convictions or what-have-you.   Everybody matters.

When we recognize that everybody matters, we can empower more people. Empowerment is nothing but positive, and that goes a long ways towards building self-sufficiency, peace, prosperity and ultimately happiness. Empowered people know that they matter, and they in turn have the opportunity to empower even more people. This starts a chain where we don’t need the false accolade of equality through participation awards, but knowing that you matter win or lose.

Recognizing that everybody matters would allow us to share more abundance, prosperity and happiness.   Some groups may need to stand out more clearly in order to show us this truth, but it is not inappropriate for them to do so. Black lives matter, gay lives matter, the lives of the poor matter – all statements to the effect that everybody matters. Period.

Finding positivity is not hard, it just requires action. Knowing that all lives matter, we can work together more to help empower the disempowered and make the world a better place. By acknowledging the importance of all lives, we empower not only others, but ourselves. When we feel empowered, we often spread that feeling to others around us, and as such can build more positive feelings. We can use the positive feelings this generates to dissolve negative feelings. When we take away negative feelings, we open up space to let in positive feelings, and that is something we can be grateful for. Gratitude leads to happiness. Happiness is the ultimate positive attitude. Positive attitude begets positive energy, and that is always a good thing.

This is the eightieth entry of my Positivity series.  It is my hope these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone.  Feel free to share, re-blog and spread the positivity.