Dan Pearce

As much as I don__ want it to be true, the reasons I don__ do something define me as a person even more so, perhaps, than the reasons I do something.

I have known a lot of people in my life, and I can tell you this_ Some of the ones who understood love better than anyone else were those who the rest of the world had long before measured as lost or gone. Some of the people who were able to look at the dirtiest, the poorest, the gays, the straights, the drug users, those in recovery, the basest of sinners, and those who were just_ plain_ different.They were able to look at them all and only see strength. Beauty. Potential. Hope.And if we boil it down, isn__ that what love actually is?

The more you put your arm around those that you might naturally look down on, the more you will love yourself. And the more you love yourself, the less need you__l ever have to find fault or be better than others. And the less we all find fault or have a need to be better than others, the quicker this world becomes a far better place to live.

Don't hate the bullies. Experience tells me that hating them, or being angry with them, will always make it worse. Instead, put your arm around them. Love them. Tell them that they are valuable. Tell them that you expect great things from them. They will stop the bullying. They will stop, because they will start to love themselves. And people who love themselves don__ bully others.

If I could give one message to the bullies, it would be this: You are incredible. You are bound for great things. You have the potential to be anybody you want to be. There are people who believe in you. There are people who love you. Be what we know you can be, even if you don__ believe in yourself right now.

If I could give one message to the bullied, it would be this: You are not alone. You are strong. You have a voice. You are beautiful. You are intelligent. There are many kids who want to speak up for you, but they don__ because they are afraid of becoming bullied themselves. There are many of us in the world who love you. I love you. You have the power to end this now. That power is in your voice. Find it. Once you use your voice, bullies want no part of you. If you feel that you lack the courage, fake it until you do. Finally, I know it__ hard to see a life that exists beyond high school. It is there, and it is beautiful.

If bullies actually believe that somebody loves them and believes in them, they will love themselves, they will become better people, and many will even become saviors to the bullied.

I__e watched my dad move our family from extreme poverty to extreme wealth and then everywhere in between. Never once did I see or hear him be anything but a cheerleader for the accomplishments of others. It didn__ matter if he was down or up in life, he wanted everybody around him to succeed. I__e even watched him praise the very people that have tried to destroy him over the years and then very publicly wish them success and happiness. He taught me the enthusiasm that should always come at the success of others. He constantly taught me that when others succeed, it gives us all more opportunity to succeed. He taught me that when there is conflict, minor or major, you can almost always walk away at the end with a handshake.

You__ be hard-pressed to find an old person who would trade in a true friend for any amount of popularity or fame. You'd also be hard-pressed to find a young person who wouldn't.

Who do you want to surround yourself with? People who can pull you up to their level of greatness? Or people who will happily pull you down to theirs?

One of the greatest acts of service you can do is to find someone who is secretly lonely and be a friend to them, if only for a day.

Only those willing to truly risk everything will gain everything. No person ever rose to greatness without the willingness to lose it all.

Having a college degree does not make you educated. Always learning new things is what makes you educated.

Our greatest mistakes, if we look at them, and digest them, and interact with them, and learn from them_ they can be the greatest moments of our lives.

People who love themselves, don__ hurt other people. The more we hate ourselves, the more we want others to suffer.

Once your past no longer has the power to define you, your future is, quite literally, yours for the taking. Every single beautiful thing you could possibly want or imagine will be yours.

Everything we think we know, everything we think we see, everything we believe we feel, taste, smell, or hear, everything we __emember_ (our pasts), everything we want to happen (our futures), everything that has ever existed or will ever exist, only exists right now. All of these things are nothing more than electric signals being passed through our brains and bodies, right now. It is all energy flowing through us right now. __he past_ exists only in our minds. We are the ones who bring it into reality. We are the ones who bring it into the present. We are the ones who make it __eal_.

I really believe that it is honesty about our imperfect selves that makes everyone do better and be better.