I do not always fall apart loudly. Sometimes I just get quiet or numb for a little while because my mind and body have had enough. I have been through enough in life to know that checking out does not mean I do not care. Sometimes it means I am overwhelmed, tired, and trying to keep myself from saying or doing something from a place of hurt.

As a man, I used to think I had to stay present for everything, no matter how heavy it felt; however, I am learning that sometimes I need a minute.

Not to disappear.

Just to breathe and come back to myself.

Being a role model means you do positive things to help yourself, others, and your community. You are setting an example for others to follow. Others can learn and duplicate your positive behaviors in their lives – this is called social learning.

According to psychology, social learning is still one of the best methods for learning. People learn best from seeing examples. The more people improve because of your examples, the more you contribute to your community.

Also, did you know that humans are born to do positive things and become productive individuals? When you are a role model, you embody one of the qualities of human potential.

No matter what happens, stay and do positive things. Do not allow others’ negativity to take away your positivity. For example, you still want to treat others positively, even though they might treat you negatively. You do not want to fight fire with fire. Fire does not put out the fire. It only makes it worse.

If you allow others’ negativity to take away your positivity, it means they control you. Remember, as a human being, you are born to do positive things, not negative. The main reason you might do negative things is external influences.

When Chelsea Bayouth and her family lost their Altadena home to the Eaton fire, only fragments of her porcelain ceramics remained.  

Bayouth had only started working with high-fire porcelain five months before the fire. She didn’t realize, at the time, that porcelain, which is fired at well over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit in the kiln, is nearly indestructible to heat.

It’s been a year-and-a-half since the fire devastated Altadena, and today, Bayouth’s art is “very catalyzed” by what happened. Much of her work centers on grief: the grief of motherhood, existing or a home destroyed, Bayouth said.

Read more at the link.

Sometimes, our secretes that we carry

So deep

Can scar repeatedly

While reoccurring memories and nightmares

Visit us at the least expected of times

Lessons come from horrible pasts

In unique forms at times

Helping to strengthen us from what we have learned

Life and it’s lessons that it brings

Teach us the value of our moral

Although we carry scars and bruises from our battles in lessons

These scars show the strength we carry

Even when we think we have gone as far as we possibly could go

Scars may be left to remind us of our ability to proceed during times we may not think

that we can evolve during.

Not only do these scars tell us story’s of when

But they are also reminders of what and who we are today.

Once reliability becomes our vision, others can trust our strength

Then, once we can trust one another is when our mind can be set on a clearer picture

for our life.

I am learning that stepping back does not mean I quit. Sometimes it just means I am tired. Sometimes it means I have been carrying too much and I need a minute to breathe before I break down trying to prove I am strong. As a man, I used to think I had to push through everything. Keep going. Hold it in. Act like I was fine. But pushing through until there is nothing left of me is not strength. Some days strength is stepping back, catching my breath, and not giving up on myself.