To me, respect is something that must be earned no matter who you are. If you respect me, chances are I’ll respect you in return. If you don’t respect me however, I can make your life hell. Even if you’re family.

It’s super easy to reproduce. It happens to people every day who aren’t even trying. The hard part is not fucking your kid over and being an example of what not to do. Parents, and any family for that matter, don’t get a free ticket for my respect. They have to work just as hard as everybody else. I’m not even that hard to please. Just let me be me and don’t question my methods. I’m usually three steps ahead of you when you ask me why I’m doing something.

Though I’m easy to impress, I’m not good at impressing people. I’m not extraordinary at anything really. I always have a B in whatever math class I’m taking, and that’s fucking horrible according to some. I’m so disappointing. I’m also awfully mediocre.

I like quotes because other people are better at phrasing stuff than I am.

“I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us.” -John Lennon

I swear, I fucking worship John Lennon. This is exactly how I feel. I’ve tried praying. It doesn’t work. Magic isn’t real. People are though. People save us; people hold us and tell us it’s going to be okay. I’ve never felt some mystical arms around me and claimed it was God. Maybe that’s what I need though. I want to have one of those life-changing experiences everybody raves about, but until then, I’ll need you people to keep me sane. Sometimes I feel like maybe I feel God. But it’s always in people. I feel it when somebody smiles at me, or thanks me.

That’s another thing for me to ramble about: appreciation. I don’t need much of it because I’m not used to getting much, but it’s important for me. I always thank people if they deserve it and I try to tell people how much I appreciate and value them as much as I can. You never know when they won’t be there. It’s hard, but worth it. If you don’t believe me, try it.

“I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?” -John Lennon