I’m secure in who I am. I’m also secure in who I am not.
If you know me—even the least little bit—I believe you would say that I am open-minded. I am fair and I am accepting of others’ beliefs and opinions. I welcome others’ perspectives, others’ attitudes, others’ beliefs and opinions. I don’t believe you can grow in a positive way if you don’t accept that we’re all different with unique perspectives. I’m grateful for diverse beliefs, diverse attitudes and diverse opinions. It’d be a mighty boring place if we were all just alike. ☺
I’ve never been one that has to be part of the status quo. I am my own person and I am secure in that knowledge. I am strong. I am confident and I’ve had many life experiences that have made me the person I am. I’ve been knocked down many, many times. But I’ve grown from every fall and I’ve learned over the years that you have to stand for your beliefs and you have to be willing to sometimes stand alone. I am very secure in that. For many years in the non-profit world, I served on many boards. There were times when I found myself with the lone vote as either “yay” or “nay”. But, I always had a reason for standing alone. My vote was determined by my convictions and in doing the right thing. More often than not, board members would later tell me, “Charity, I understand now why you voted that way.” Not 100% of the time, but at least 80% of the time.
I said that, not to pat myself on the back, but to emphasize that I do not have a problem standing by myself in support of an issue. And I don’t care how many stand on the opposite side of the issue. If I believe in it, if I feel in my heart that I am doing the right thing, by myself is where I’ll stand. ♥
I’m secure in who I am.
I don’t need the validation
of those that would say,
you have to be a certain way
in order to be accepted.
I’m comfortable going against
the grain if I need to.
~J. C. Watts
Let me be clear and state it again. I welcome your opinions. I welcome your beliefs. I welcome your attitudes and your uniqueness.
What I do not welcome is being told by anyone that I should not have an opinion. I do not welcome being told that because The Horse Mafia is a “horse page”, I shouldn’t have an opinion on an issue and if I do, I had better not express it and because I have, they’re leaving the page.
On yesterday, I shared a link which was “A letter to my children about Fifty Shades of Grey”. In the text of my shared post, I typed, “I hope this gets shared a gazillion times”. A lot of comments were posted. A lot of them didn’t agree with what the letter said. I am perfectly fine with that. I expected to get comments that reflected a different opinion than my own. I wanted comments that reflected a different opinion than my own.
Be Brave
enough to start a conversation that matters.
~Unknown
I often share things that will generate conversations that matter. You know, something that isn’t all about fluff. Something that matters. I believe the content of the letter that was shared matters. So, it was great to see so many comments. ♥
But there were some comments (and private emails) that…well, frankly, I was surprised to get. Comments in which I was told that this was a “horse page” and I shouldn’t interject my own beliefs and opinions about an issue. Further, their comments were that because I had expressed an opinion, they were leaving the page.
First of all, The Horse Mafia has always and will always use horses to help inspire and bring hope to others. That’s part of who we are. But, I am not my horses. I am not defined by my horses. I have opinions, beliefs, and perspectives as a unique individual. And I have never and will never have a problem expressing my beliefs and opinions.
I count all of you as my blessings. You will never, ever know how much your support means to me.
But for those who left the page or threatened to leave the page because I expressed an opinion, I am not one who will allow your membership on my page to hold me hostage to a certain opinion or action. I refuse to allow your membership on my page to force me to be silent. I will never stay silent for the sake of numbers. I will never not speak up and express my opinion to keep any one person happy. It’s ok to disagree with me. But, it isn’t ok to tell me that I shouldn’t have an opinion. It’s not who I am. I hope that is one reason why so many of you follow the page and support it. I hope my convictions come through to you through my posts and my shares.
Blessings to you!
Charity & The Horse Mafia
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