Today in Cleveland we had the Pride Parade formerly known as the annual Gay Pride parade. This is a pretty big event in the LGBT community and actually a hell of a lot of fun as the parade is followed by a sort of party and picnic downtown. Anyone who follows the link and reads the comments following the story will see some nice as well as some harsh comments. Personally I have no problem with the LGBT community. Raised Roman Catholic and a child of parochial school I bid a fond farewell to Catholicism many years ago.

When the LGBT community has any events downtown they are always nice events, well organized and never the drunken brawls associated with most events. Just nice people enjoying a nice day and yes, absolutely beautiful day.

Wendy, your choice of lifestyle is just that, this was your choice and decision and I can respect that. However, as you know now and knew before your change, not everyone sees this in the same manner. You will need to maintain a thick skin through all of this.

Ron

 

Wendy, those that endure the greatest hardships, reap the highest rewards. There is a reason that you are here now, in this time. You are the only one who truly knows that reason. The rest of us are just supporting actors in your life. The people that appear to be trying to harm you are really there to help you grow. You can't grow if the world is peaches and ice cream. You need antagonists in order to transcend. You are more than what you think you are. What you are doing is important. Put everything you have into it. And.....do not go quietly into that good night.

 

Thank You.

 

...those that endure the greatest hardships, reap the highest rewards.

Interesting. I tend to agree, but I wonder what is your basis for holding that opinion.

 

But thats the very core that most every religion is based on. Be like us of be damned by us and our judgements so says our god.

That's just my point. In reality (based on the actual teachings of Christianity), it is not the job of people to judge others. The judgement is left to a higher power, not to people who twist the faith and say that just because you're different (i.e. transgender, gay, etc) God hates you (absolutely not true, based on the actual scriptures) and that you'll be damned because of it (based on the faith, getting to heaven has nothing to do with your actions, or what you do). Many people don't understand the actual beliefs, because so many who claim to believe misinterpret, misunderstand, and misrepresent the religion.

Now, I realize this probably isn't the best way for me to explain it -- Some of you may be asking "How do you know your interpretation is the "right one"? Well I don't. But based on the scriptures themselves, I can certainly pick out faults in a lot of the interpretations that directly go against the scripture, so I consider them wrong.

Sorry guys, I'm preaching again.

 

Interesting. I tend to agree, but I wonder what is your basis for holding that opinion.

The path that you follow through life brings you to obstacles, things that you are not certain that you can overcome. When you overcome them they become a part of you, you own them now. You are a stronger and more confident person. If you fail to overcome them, they become a blockage that prevents you from going down that path. Your path changes when you fail. If they are important enough, your path will come back to that obstacle so you can try again. Pretty simple.

Haven't you had to retake a class, or go back and talk to the girl that rejected you earlier, or finally got the nerve to cold cock the bully that has been harassing you? Life is full of challenges and great rewards.

 

It is funny, people have tried to bully me all my life, but I always followed my Dad's advice on this one. A bully doesn't generally want a fight, he wants to intimidate. So if you take him on knowing you will get your butt whipped but make sure he pays a price then he is not generally interested in seconds. This is basically how I have lived my life.

 

You learned early.

 

You can talk the talk but can you walk the walk.

This quote applies to bullies perfectly.

 

The path that you follow through life brings you to obstacles, things that you are not certain that you can overcome. When you overcome them they become a part of you, you own them now. You are a stronger and more confident person. If you fail to overcome them, they become a blockage that prevents you from going down that path. Your path changes when you fail. If they are important enough, your path will come back to that obstacle so you can try again. Pretty simple.

Haven't you had to retake a class, or go back and talk to the girl that rejected you earlier, or finally got the nerve to cold cock the bully that has been harassing you? Life is full of challenges and great rewards.

So, in your original statement, instead of "endure," you meant "overcome"?

 

It is funny, people have tried to bully me all my life, but I always followed my Dad's advice on this one. A bully doesn't generally want a fight, he wants to intimidate. So if you take him on knowing you will get your butt whipped but make sure he pays a price then he is not generally interested in seconds. This is basically how I have lived my life.

I've found that an old car with a steel grills and bumpers, a large trunk, bald tires and the engine shut off coasts surprisingly quiet and works well for hit and runs at night. Also having my own backhoe tractor makes digging holes for things I may or may not have ran over and put in the trunk easy for when I get home.

But that's just me.

 

Is that a confession or an outing?

 

So, in your original statement, instead of "endure," you meant "overcome"?

I am sure you can find a lot of words that essentially mean," I am not giving up." Use whichever one you like best.

 

Is that a confession or an outing?

I usually go to confession after an outing.

It's funny to hear the priest on the other side shift around and clear his throat multiple times uncomfortably when I tell him what I did.

Well except in this one church. When I was done the priest said he knew the guy and slipped his hand through the little door and insisted on giving me a high five.

 

I am sure you can find a lot of words that essentially mean," I am not giving up." Use whichever one you like best.

I tend to think of "enduring" as just taking what comes without resistance, but I understand that it can also mean to persevere.

 

Quotation from the movie, "Little Big Man"
(Congress said) Endeavor to persevere.
So we declared war.

It's the right thing to do with bullies.

(Repeating myself) I was a terrible coward as a child. The first time I busted a bullies face, my troubles ended.
Win, lose, or draw, they don't come back for more.

 

I wasn't so much a coward, but I was small for my age and was almost a year younger than most of my classmates, so I tended to get picked on a lot, and so fought a lot. For years, my fighting mode was sort of "justifiable force response" and I had this idea of what was fair fighting; as a result, I got beaten...a lot. Once I got over those notions, and adopted the "immediate escalation of force response," my fights were fewer and much shorter.

 

I was very fortunate as a child. While I didn't have many friends (I could count on one hand the number of real friends I had between Kindergarten and 12th grade), I was practically invisible to everyone. Because of this I didn't get picked on a whole lot (it only happened a few times that I remember). I was able to go do my own thing without worrying about what other people would think of me.

I was the short dirty-blonde kid with a striped sweater and glasses who'd sit in a corner of the building and read instead of going outside and playing during recess.

 

Recent pics of me

 

A confession and an Outing