Don’t You Dare Give Up

Get up, because we’ve got work to do. Get out of bed, get dressed, brush your teeth, and let’s go.

I understand you feel etiolated, hopeless, lost. Everything is confounding and compounded by grief and pain. The world is upside-down, but now, more than ever, is the reason we need to act.

I get that our generation is one of toil and struggle. Sure, our parents did their best raising us, but we were ultimately gaslighted by an entire subset of our elders who pushed upon us tenets of double-standards: follow your dreams, but also don’t; stay childlike, but act like an adult; be yourself, but also conform. The climactic shitshow of our time was not one but two major economic recessions, which hit us at the precise moments we were beginning to find financial security (caused by the greed and entitlement of the previous generations, lest we forget). Top it all off with systemic racism, sexism, and the malignant narcissism we see at the epicenter of all this strife,and the last thing we’re prone to feel is hope. It’s easier, it seems, to just curl up and hibernate until it’s over.

Well, guess what? You gotta work harder than that.

This movement of change can only take root if you start with yourself. It is your responsibility to dig deeper into your very soul and unearth that treasure trove of courage that you’ve long since buried. It’s time to stop making excuses.

The lesson here is simple, but it will take work. The key is to use your own negative self-talk, your vile inner critic’s voice, against itself. Take all of that precious time and energy you’ve poured into your “I’m Not Good Enough” storage tank and set that shit on fire. You don’t think you can do it? Prove yourself wrong. Are you constantly believing the taunts of self-sabotage? Tell those thoughts to eat shit and get to work eradicating false narratives. You’d be surprised what kind of rocket fuel you have waiting to propel you in the right direction, and all it takes is one match.

What’s more, there are tangible voices who are counting on wearing us down in order to win. Their tactics are also those of psychological attrition, and the louder they are, the more they think it will persuade us to surrender. Well, that’s just fucking wrong, isn’t it? I don’t care how loud someone screams; volume doesn’t equal veracity.

Please, for all I have in me, get up! The world needs you now more than ever. We need your smile, your words, your love, your empathy, and your sense of humor. Get up. Take care of yourself. Fortify your mind, your body, and your spirit, because now is the time to be who we were meant to from the very beginning: the living emblem of hope for future generations.

I promise it will get better. I promise what we’re going through will be worth it. No, it won’t be easy. In fact, it will hurt like hell, but what’s on the other side is better than we could have imagined. After all, I know you want to be able to tell your children, “You bet your ass I fought for what’s right!” So get out of bed and get to work on your part in this story, because we need you, and we need you right now.