Animal Agriculture and The Environment

     Here is a paper that I wrote about the negative impact animal agriculture has on the environment. This is something I am passionate about because it is important for people to be aware of! After watching Cowspiracy, I decided to eat as little meat and animal products as possible. I have gone almost three months without eating meat and I hope to try being vegan eventually. I am taking one step at a time but you do not have to cut animal products out completely to make a difference. Every effort to decrease how much animal product you eat makes a difference! I still allow myself to splurge sometimes but I have found that I do not even really want to eat meat as much anymore. I hope you read my blog and watch Cowspiracy to find out more!

     Animal agriculture is  one of the most significant cause of deforestation, water use, and pollution, and it is responsible for more greenhouse gases than transportation. It is a  one of the main forces behind rainforest destruction, species extinction, habitat loss, topsoil erosion, ocean ‘dead zones,’ and almost every other environment issue (Kip Anderson, 2014). Yet, the impacts that animal agriculture has on the environment are not well-known.  But I think this needs to change because it could help improve this planet.  People need to know how huge of an impact animal agriculture has on the environment. Animal agriculture, as a science and social enterprise, can be impacted by, and impacts, many different aspects of the environment. People need to become aware of these, including the economic, business, societal, health, legal, and political aspects involved.

     The reason the environmental impacts of the animal agriculture are largely unknown is related to economic and business components. All scientific information points to animal agriculture as being the number one problem and contributor to climate change, but none of the big environmental organizations (e.g., Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, Climate Reality, 350.org, Amazon Watch) will admit that or make animal agriculture one of their primary campaigns (Kip Anderson, 2014). This is because the animal agriculture industry does not want society to know about its damaging effects. The externalized cost of the animal agriculture industry is four hundred and fourteen billion dollars, including health care, fish production, animal cruelty, environmental impact, and subsidies (Friedrich, 2013). There are some people who have known about the cost of animal agriculture, especially in regards to the environment, but unfortunate consequences have happened to them when they tried to speak out. Animal agriculture industries have gone as far as to threaten, sue, and even kill those who speak up about these issues, in order to keep the impacts a secret from society. For example, “speaking out against the destruction of the rainforest in Brazil, for cattle grazing, got the US born nun Sister Dorothy Stang killed by hired gunmen from the cattle industry” (Kip Anderson, 2014). She is not the only one, as many others who have spoken up had similar tragedies occur.

      Another part of animal agriculture that people must be aware of is the social aspect. For instance, people do not realize “we are currently growing enough food to feed 10 billion people” (Holt-Giménez, 2012), but “82% of starving children live in countries where food is fed to animals, and the animals are eaten by other countries in the west” (UNCF, 2013). Although this food is subsidized for animals to eat and would need to change for people to get the same nutrients out of it. People must be aware of the fact that the world population grows approximately 228,000 people every day (World Population Data Sheet 2014, 2010), and the average human eats about 209 pounds of meat each year (Kip Anderson, 2014). This is too much meat to be sustainable for how fast the population is growing. Children should not starve if we have enough food to feed ten billion people and eating two hundred and nine pounds of meat is not sustainable for how over populated this world is.

     It is important to also examine the health aspect of animal agriculture, because an animal-based diet may not be as essential nor nutritious as commonly believed. Meat does provide nutrients that you need for a healthy diet, mainly protein; however, protein can also be found in food such as eggs, beans, and whole wheat products (Mayo Clinic, 2014). Vegetarians and vegans tend to be healthier from not eating meat, as long as they get the protein they need from other sources (Mayo Clinic, 2014). This may be hard to do in some places but improving the access to healthy food in less developed nations and people in need would be worth the effort. The components of meat that make it so unhealthy include its high fat content, high calorie content, and its tendency to be highly processed (BBC, 2014). Eating a lot of highly processed food leads to high blood pressure and high cholesterol (BBC, 2014). The health risks of eating too much meat can include cardiovascular disease, cancer, and a 13% higher mortality rate (BBC, 2014).

     Some ecological consequences of animal include deforestation, overuse of water, and pollution. Animal agriculture is a cause of more greenhouse gases than transportation. Animal agriculture is the main cause for rainforest destruction, endangered species, loss of habitat, erosion of topsoil, ocean “dead zones” and almost every other environmental problem (Kip Anderson, 2014). Consuming “a vegan diet produces about 50% less carbon dioxide, 1/11th oil, 1/13th water, and 1/18th land compared to someone who eats meat” (Kip Anderson, 2014). In one day, “a person who consumes a vegan diet saves 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 square feet of forested land, 20 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent, and one animal’s life” (Kip Anderson, 2014). Eating less meat and other animal products can reduce humans’ impact on the environment, which may slow the effects of climate change and help save the planet. But I'm not saying this is the only solution, to help the environment making effort in many ways is the best. Transitioning to a vegan, or at least a vegetarian, diet can make a huge difference in one’s ecological footprint.

     Meat producers and distributors are very rich and powerful. They are in lobbying organizations in the US, like the American Meat Institute, the National Meat Association, and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (Johnson, n.d.). The Meat Disparagement Laws were “designed to make it easier for food producers to hold individuals liable for criticizing their products” (Kimberly, 2012). The food disparagement laws are also known as veggie libel laws because they have often been used against animal rights and vegetarian activists working to expose the harmful consequences of meat consumption (Kimberly, 2012). But these laws are not constitutional because they go against First Amendment rights.

     The animal agriculture industry is one of the most significant cause of many environmental issues, including pollution, immense water consumption, deforestation, greenhouse gases, extinction of animal habitats and endangerment of animals, erosion of topsoil and dead zones in oceans. Animal agriculture affects many different areas such as social, economic and business, health, legal, and political arenas. It is important to preventing the harms being done to people who speak out about this topic. People deserve to be informed of the significant negative impacts that animal agriculture has on the environment. It is not the only cause of environmental problems but it is a significant one. I hope people put effort in many different aspects of their lives to help the environment , and effort in decreasing your animal agriculture consumption can help a lot.

What We Need Now

    "It's been quite a time for the United States and the rest of the world as we all watched the election results come in early Wednesday morning. Some of us wept for our country. Some of us celebrated. Some of us are already taking to the streets in protest. You all know how I wanted and expected the election to go. I wanted us to choose unity and inclusion over building walls and singling out ethnic and religious groups for hate and suspicion. I wanted us to choose progress over yearning for some long-lost mythical era when America was supposedly greatest. I wanted us to destroy the highest glass ceiling instead of electing an admitted sexual assaulter." John Legend. I wanted what John Legend wanted but this is not what happened. Trump is our president now. So what happened?

     This video explains that Trump is president because we did not listen to each other and try to understand each other.  Instead we just insulted each others views, criticized the other candidate,  and called each other demeaning names. But insulting each other and calling each other names does not do anything but make the other person shut off and not listen. These things do not persuade the other person to agree with or understand your ideas and perspectives. Both sides are to blame. https://www.youtube.com/wa.tch?v=GLG9g7BcjKs

     I think there has been a huge misunderstanding between conservatives and liberals that has divided us more this election than ever.  Conservatives do not understand why Liberals are so upset and think that liberals are accusing all Trump supporters of being racist, sexist, and bigots. Liberals do not understand how people could accept or even worse, support, the hateful things Trump has said and done. To liberals, a vote for Trump is saying that the hateful things he has said about minorities, women, Muslims and people who have disabilities are acceptable. A vote for Trump makes Liberals feel that Conservatives do not care about the rights of these groups enough to tell Trump that it is not acceptable to treat people the way he does. We all deserve the same rights and respect. Liberals are afraid that Trump will take their rights away. Here is another article that describes how liberals feel in more detail:  https://nouveauxromantiques.wordpress.com/2016/11/10/what-i-need-my-republican-peers-to-understand-about-their-hurting-friends/

    I have more liberal views, so recently I have been trying to talk to my conservative friends and family about their views to understand them better. Understanding each other promotes empathy and acceptance. What I have found is that most conservatives still care about everyone's rights but have different ideas about how to reach the same goals and a lot of  conservatives did not take the hateful things Trump said seriously.

    Both sides were afraid but just of different things. For Conservatives it was a fear of Hilary being corrupt and of terrorists getting in through open border,  and for liberals the main fears were the spread of hate and of their rights being taken away. There are more reasons on both sides but I won't go into every detail because what is more important is what we do next. So what should we do now?

     What we need now is understanding, empathy, support, and love.

    I hope the Republicans who do not understand why Democrats are so hurt, listen to their explanations before assuming it is just because their candidate lost. I hope Democrats listen to Republicans on why they voted for Trump before judging them as being all racist, sexists and bigots.

 As Benjamin Studebaker said "When we talk to folks who don’t see things our way, we needn’t accuse them of -isms or treat them with disrespect. We just need to talk to them about what we all have in common and what we all deserve. We need inclusive language which reframes society along unifying group boundaries that favor the policies and attitudes we’d like to see, which gently encourage us to pay attention to the things we share with the groups from which we might feel distant."

    Empathy is another thing that we need. For republicans, "some may think that the connections between some of the incidents (Trump promotes) aren’t that serious or plausible. But the (ones who don't understand) aren’t the ones the arrow is pointing at. It feels different when everything seems stacked up against you. That’s what those who don’t feel personally threatened urgently need to understand. Whether you believe the president-elect’s reckless and careless words and associations really reveal a racist intention or not, your neighbors in all of these groups are reasonably fearful that they do"Anthony Bushnell. Empathy does not require us  to“judge whether they should be weeping,”H.B Charles Jr., it just requires you to understand/feel the pain that others are feeling and be a shoulder to cry on when they need it.

    We need to support each other in order to let Trump know that he needs to support everyone too. Liberals "need to know that (Consevatives) are going to be sure to see that (minorities, women, Muslims and people who have disabilities) are protected and treated fairly and equally. They need to know (Conservatives) aren’t against them, and won’t forget about them or turn on them." Anthony Bushnell

    Finally, we need love. "It's clear that we all need more love and It's important that we show love and empathy to people who may not look like us or live like us. Those who are marginalized and rejected, feared and left behind."- John Legend. We all need to let each other know that we love one another, despite our differences.  "Love is universal. We all need it. We all can give it. And it will ultimately win over hate. I have to believe that."- John Legend
 
  I will end with John Legend's new video, " Love me Now".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmCFY1oYDeM&feature=share

And a quote from Obama :

     "Our youth, our drive, our diversity and openness, our boundless capacity for risk and reinvention means that the future should be ours. But that potential will only be realized if our democracy works. Only if our politics better reflects the decency of our people. Only if all of us, regardless of party affiliation or particular interests help restore the sense of common purpose that we so badly need right now.

And that’s what I want to focus on tonight, the state of our democracy. Understand democracy does not require uniformity. Our founders argued, they quarreled, and eventually they compromised. They expected us to do the same. But they knew that democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity. The idea that, for all our outward differences, we’re all in this together, that we rise or fall as one."

Spread The Word to End Ignorant Assumptions

     Please do not use the "R" word. Broaden your vocabulary to use more accurate, descriptive, and less ignorant words. There are so many words to choose from that do not insult a whole group of people. Handicapped is out of date too. Person-first language is the right language to use. So instead of saying a handicapped person, you say a person who has a disability. Actually what is even better is to just call us by our names. You don't even have to mention our disabilities.
 
  This is an issue that I am really passionate about because I see way too many people ignorantly assume way too much about people who have disabilities. That is why it is so important to get to know someone before you judge them. We are just as capable as anyone else. A disability does not mean a person is capable of less. It means we have to adapt and be more creative to do the same things as everyone else, just differently. The Paralympics is proof that people with physical disabilities can still be athletic and do amazing things, often even beating Olympic records. I know these things because I have a disability. I have cerebral palsy, a mild case of right side hemiplegia (meaning my right arm and leg are effected). But I do not let this hold me back. I play soccer, run, ski, travel, hike... and much more.

      Do not judge what we can do by our appearance. Just because someone has a physical disability or  is in a wheel chair, does not mean they have a cognitive disability, and just because someone has a cognitive disability, does not mean that they are not smart. People sometimes assume I have a cognitive/intellectual disability when they notice my physical disability, especially when I am volunteering with people who have cognitive/intellectual disabilities, but that is not true. I also see people treat my friends who have cognitive or even physical disabilities like they are children. This is so rude, offensive, and ignorant. They are not children and they are very capable of living independent and successful lives. They deserve respect. People with cognitive impairments can even go to college to improve their independent living skills. I volunteer with an amazing group of students in the ClemsonLIFE program. It is inspiring to be a part of and see how they become a family that loves, accepts, and supports each other, as they grow as individuals.

    There is so much more to who we are as a people than just our disabilities. There are many ways to describe and explain who we are, better than our disabilities could. These include things such as our personality traits, what we are passionate about, our strengths..  and the list is endless. We are just as capable of being intelligent, athletic, and successful as others. We are often even more capable than others of being accepting, kind, loving, compassionate, empathetic, optimistic, patient, persistent, determined, and hard working because of the challenges we go through. For example, the challenges I have gone through because of my disability have inspired me to want to help others who have disabilities too. Aren't these the capabilities that matter most, anyways? In my opinion, these are the capabilities that matter most. Having the ability to overcome challenges and using those struggles to help others also matters more than the disability that caused those challenges.

The Meaning of Life

"I think the purpose of life is to constantly draw closer, to exhaust ourselves in the incredible journey of exploring every inch of ourselves and this planet, of feeling love and passion and curiosity and joy (things we’ve all felt before) but feeling them on a grand, deep, moving level; to an extent where you think to yourself that you didn’t think it was possible to feel this way, how could we ever go back to a life of mediocrity, of “good enough”; i think, the purpose of life is trying to get as close as possible to our truest, best selves, and oftentimes we’re at our most humble and beautiful and invigorated and compassionate when we’re surrounded by landscapes that feel more like home than the house we grew up in, and in the company of people that feel more like long-lost brothers and sisters and soulmates than the small-talk friends we see day-to-day in our normal, 9-to-5 routine. it’s about going out into the world and experiencing moments and people and places so spectacularly awe-inspiring – moments where you think, this is what it means to be alive – and promising to spend the rest of your life never settling for less than extraordinary.

because once you realize just how miraculous the world can be, with all its people and possibilities and moments just waiting for you to discover, and all the wonder you can feel and grasp and hold and touch if you just are out there, it’s hard to be okay with anything less.
Remake, decide, repave, find a way to your bliss.
I think that is the purpose of life." Found on Tumblr

Reasons Why You Don't Have To Be In a A Relationship

" Can I tell you a secret? You don’t have to be in a relationship.
    I mean it. I know they force it down your throat until you choke on it. Girls aren’t pretty unless they’re wanted. Boys aren’t men unless they’re having sex with someone. People aren’t lovable until they’re dating someone.
    But a relationship won’t always make you happy, and as wonderful as romance is, it isn’t the only love that exists. I have seen friendships that are deeper and more pure than couples who swear it’s forever - and yet the friendship is the one people ignore.
     I have heard so often “nobody loves me” out of the mouths of people who are single. And it kills me because if you ask them: where are your parents, your teachers, your classmates, your pets - they say, yes, okay, but it doesn’t count. Of course it counts, love doesn’t diminish just because someone doesn’t want to have sex with you. In fact, doesn’t it sort of make that love more real that they want nothing - not even a date - out of you?
     It is pretty to be in love. It’s magical, I’m sure. But it’s also wonderful to stop for ice cream in your prom dress with six other girls. It’s also wonderful to go visit the world with nothing but a bunch of buddies who are really excited about learning.
     The problem is: we’ve made everything about “the one”. But maybe “the one” is just you, loving yourself, having fun, and being happy. Maybe instead of looking for our other halves, we should be piecing ourselves together." Found on Tumblr

    "There’s so much more to life than finding someone who will want you, or being sad over someone who doesn’t. There’s a lot of wonderful time to be spent discovering yourself without hoping someone will fall in love with you along the way, and it doesn’t need to be painful or empty. You need to fill yourself up with love. Not anyone else. Become a whole being on your own. Go on adventures, fall asleep in the woods with friends, wander around the city at night, sit in a coffee shop on your own, write on bathroom stalls, leave notes in library books, dress up for yourself, give to others, smile a lot. Do all things with love, but don’t romanticize love like you can’t survive without it. Live for yourself and be happy on your own. It isn’t any less beautiful, I promise.” 
― Emery Allen

     “The capacity to be alone is the capacity to love. It may look paradoxical to you, but it's not. It is an existential truth: only those people who are capable of being alone are capable of love, of sharing, of going into the deepest core of another person--without possessing the other, without becoming dependent on the other, without reducing the other to a thing, and without becoming addicted to the other. They allow the other absolute freedom, because they know that if the other leaves, they will be as happy as they are now. Their happiness cannot be taken by the other, because it is not given by the other.” Osho 

Quotes

Quotes

I hope one day
somebody loves you
so much
that they see violets
in the bags under your eyes,
sunsets in the downward arch
of your lips

that they recognize you
as something green,
something fresh and still growing
even if sometimes
you are growing sideways
that they do not waste their time
trying to fix you.”

― Trista Mateer
“What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do- especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.”

The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.

  –Henry Miller

"Sometimes the future changes quickly and completely and we’re left with only the choice of what to do next. We can choose to be afraid of it, to stand there trembling, not moving, assuming the worst that can happen or we can step forward into the unknown and assume it will be brilliant.”

I am learning everyday to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be, to inspire me and not terrify me.” ― Tracee Ellis Ross
"Don't let the politics and chaos fool you. This world still brims with glory.
There's a beautiful moon in the sky right now. At this moment, your lungs keep inhaling and exhaling with unfathomable complexity and grace. Your heart, and billions of other hearts keep beating. Every country around the world has people in it right now who are singing. Laughing. Dancing. Making love. Kissing their babies goodnight. The strings of our being keep vibrating and that deep mystery of love that is the All underneath it all keeps holding it all together.

Yes, there's a lot to grieve lately. Violence. Terror. Climate change. Racism. But there is also so much love, hope and beauty surrounding us. Goodness that won't get reported on the news, but is present in countless thoughts and interactions. Most of this beauty goes unnoticed by most people. I encourage you take a moment to open your eyes and your heart and notice the glory brimming in the world around and within you now."

Be broken and messy and all of contradictions that you are.

"What you have no one else has so there will be a place for you. Don't think that because someone got something that you're not going to get soething else. There's room for everybody."
"There is always a space for you because there is no one that's exactly like you."
"I never, ever blow out someone else's candle to make mine brighter."
 Chelsea Handler

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.~ Rumi

"I think the purpose of life is to constantly draw closer, to exhaust ourselves in the incredible journey of exploring every inch of ourselves and this planet, of feeling love and passion and curiosity and joy (things we’ve all felt before) but feeling them on a grand, deep, moving level; to an extent where you think to yourself that you didn’t think it was possible to feel this way, how could we ever go back to a life of mediocrity, of “good enough”; i think, the purpose of life is trying to get as close as possible to our truest, best selves, and oftentimes we’re at our most humble and beautiful and invigorated and compassionate when we’re surrounded by landscapes that feel more like home than the house we grew up in, and in the company of people that feel more like long-lost brothers and sisters and soulmates than the small-talk friends we see day-to-day in our normal, 9-to-5 routine. it’s about going out into the world and experiencing moments and people and places so spectacularly awe-inspiring – moments where you think, this is what it means to be alive – and promising to spend the rest of your life never settling for less than extraordinary.

because once you realize just how miraculous the world can be, with all its people and possibilities and moments just waiting for you to discover, and all the wonder you can feel and grasp and hold and touch if you just are out there, it’s hard to be okay with anything less.
remake, decide, repave, find a way to your bliss.
i think that is the purpose of life." Found on Tumblr

 Can I tell you a secret? You don’t have to be in a relationship.

I mean it. I know they force it down your throat until you choke on it. Girls aren’t pretty unless they’re wanted. Boys aren’t men unless they’re having sex with someone. People aren’t lovable until they’re dating someone.

But a relationship won’t always make you happy, and as wonderful as romance is, it isn’t the only love that exists. I have seen friendships that are deeper and more pure than couples who swear it’s forever - and yet the friendship is the one people ignore.

I have heard so often “nobody loves me” out of the mouths of people who are single. And it kills me because if you ask them: where are your parents, your teachers, your classmates, your pets - they say, yes, okay, but it doesn’t count. Of course it counts, love doesn’t diminish just because someone doesn’t want to have sex with you. In fact, doesn’t it sort of make that love more real that they want nothing - not even a date - out of you?

It is pretty to be in love. It’s magical, I’m sure. But it’s also wonderful to stop for ice cream in your prom dress with six other girls. It’s also wonderful to go visit the world with nothing but a bunch of buddies who are really excited about learning.

The problem is: we’ve made everything about “the one”. But maybe “the one” is just you, loving yourself, having fun, and being happy. Maybe instead of looking for our other halves, we should be piecing ourselves together.
Tumblr
 

Everyone Has Their Own Path To Travel

     Everyone has their own path to go on, their own journey to take.  Everyone has their own unique insecurities to accept and their own mistakes to make.

     These days it is easy to  compare yourself and your life to others. Especially because social media has taken over our lives.  But you never know what someone's journey is all about and no one can judge your own journey because they have not experienced what it is like to be you. Your experiences makes you who you are and no one can take that away from you. We are all just trying to do our best and make the most of our life in this crazy world.  No one has the perfect life. Why would you want to be someone else and have their life when you have the power to be who you want to be and have an extraordinary life? Each person has to decide for themselves what they want out of life. No one else can or should do that for you. What I want out of life is to experience as much out of life as possible: do new things, go to new places, and meet new people.

     Most people tend to only put up the best parts about their lives on social media, making their lives seem perfect. It can be easy to get caught up in comparing their best to your worst, when you are having a bad day. You never know what someone could  be struggling with behind their seemingly perfect life on social media. For me, seeing people travel is what I get jealous of or compare my life to.

     I forget to be thankful for all of places I have been to and things I have done. Not a lot of people are lucky enough to get these opportunities and I am so thankful. Sometimes I feel greedy for wanting more, but I can't help it. I have wanderlust. I have gone on trips to London/Paris, Mexico, and Greece/Turkey with my family but they have only lasted 10 days or so. I have even gone on a month long volunteer trip with cheetahs to Africa, where I did amazing things, but It still felt too short. I feel like I might never be satisfied. But maybe being unsatisfied is not so bad, because it gives me the motivation to travel more. I think before I went to Africa, I was afraid of getting home sick or not being ready to be gone longer on my own (without my family or anyone I knew before my trip at least ) but now I realize how passionate I am about traveling. I will do anything to make it happen. Going to Africa for a month, made me wish I was able to study abroad for a semester, but that never really worked out with the ups and downs of my college career.

     I think sometimes people don't realize they do have the resources to be able to travel. What they need or lack is the passion and dedication it takes to make it happen. Seeing Facebook friends who are the same age as me, live out the dreams I have of long-term traveling, made me believe that I could do it too.  But other times I do get overwhelmed  by how many places I want to go and things I want to do. I get overwhelmed by realizing how much money I need to save, how much time it will take, and the amount of planning I will have to do. I also get overwhelmed by how many places other people I see on Facebook have traveled to. I think about how I want to go to  that many places and be able to travel that long but I feel like I can't catch up or I do not know how to make it happen. But it's not a competition. Life is not a competition. Instead, I should use their experiences as motivation to create my own experiences. I  should ask questions to see how they are able to travel so much.  Instead of getting jealous of their opportunities and techniques, I want to use the opportunities they used, as advice to find my own opportunities and techniques.

     I have to realize I'm young and still have time. Studying abroad was not my only opportunity to  long-term travel. I have to just take things one step at a time. Each person goes through different seasons of their lives at different times. Maybe the best things come to you when you least expect it. There is no one right way to get to where you want to go. Doors will open if you continue  to put effort in what you are most passionate about. For me that involves saving money, researching, and planing to travel. For others, that could be finding the right person, or the best career. I think the important thing to realize is to not to compare your life to others. You may think that they have something that you want, but you may have something that they desire. There is no point on dwelling on comparisons, because all you have control over is your own life. The best thing to do is have confidence in yourself, to be able to be all the things you want to be, do all the things you set your mind to, and go to all the places you desire. All you need to be who you want to be and have an extraordinary life is passion, dedication, and determination.

Here is some of the best advice I have gotten from quotes about this topic:

"What you have no one else has so there will be a place for you. Don't think that because someone got something that you're not going to get something else. There's room for everybody.""There is always a space for you because there is no one that's exactly like you."I never, ever blow out someone else's candle to make mine brighter."- Chelsea Handler

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."- Theodore Roosevelt
 
 "Somehow, we'll find it. The balance between whom we wish to be and whom we need to be. But for now, we simply have to be satisfied with who we are. " Unknown

 "I am learning everyday to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be, to inspire me and not terrify me.” ― Tracee Ellis Ross

"Yeah there is a lot to see and do and it is daunting. But it is also exciting. And even if we don't see it all, there is something immensely comforting in the idea that there are spectacular parts of our world that exist, even if we never see the. There are northern light hover in the sky right now , somewhere in the world.A long with a mountain gorilla carrying an infant and a market buzzing in the early moring in Japan, and a heard of wild horses walking in the sand dunes of Namibia. It's out there and I think that is pretty amazing. In and of itself. You are young. You got it. Don't be discouraged. Be inspired. You are going to live a full, beautiful life"- Tate Drucker