Mohandas karamchand Gandhi

Ive been thinking about a lot of things lately. Most notably the time Linda, Brita and I spent at Chang's Mongolian Grill. I guess you could call it girl talk on a rather intellectual level. We talked about the relationships we had been in, but not just the stories... also who we were and how we were back then. Why we did the things we did. Linda and Brita have known each other for a long time and have seen the way each other have grown. They are both very remarkable people. But what has been on my mind is something that the two of them kept going back to when referring to a few of their friends or ex's. That they seemed to be people who always were looking to see the bad in people. They were the kind of people who didnt trust anyone because they were expecting to be betrayed or some such worry. At the time I just said that I dont understand how someone can live like that, expecting the worst of people. But the truth is I totally understood. I used to be the same way. I saw the destruction and warped minds of people and the lives they lived. I used to trust nobody at all. I was a very heartless person, I didnt even trust my own parents not to off me in the night. Not that I was paranoid of it, but rather wouldnt be surprised.

It wasnt until a very close and personal friend of mine many years ago told me that they trusted me even though they didnt know much about me at the time. This was something amazing to me as I didnt even much trust my own shadow. That one comment from a friend was the first thing to pierce my rotten twisted hardened heart. Since that day my life has had its ups and downs, but I have grown in a direction greater than I could ever have imagined. It has been years since I reformed and instead I see the good in everyone. I guess I see it as, "if I had good in me then everyone must". Truth be told this is a huge part of why I want to teach high school. I want to be the teacher that believes in his angsty students. I want to help them see the good in life before they enter the real world as lost children amongst hungry tigers. The world in general seems to swallow up good people, but I want to change that for the new generations. The catcher in the rye if you will.
I am reminded of one of the worlds greatest teachers... "You must be the change you wish to see in the world"- Mohandas Gandhi