The mass shootings that have taken place over the past few weeks have been unsettling. Each time one of these incidents takes place I always pray it will be the last one but then another one happens that is worse than the one before. I’m not a fan of guns and I don’t believe there is a need for a regular citizen to own an assault rifle. It is amazing that the same people who want to change the abortion laws are the same bunch that wants to maintain their gun rights, want to arm teachers and turn schools into a fortress. How can you be pro-life and pro-gun at the same time? As I watched interviews with some of the parents who lost children in the recent school shooting, I felt so bad for them. My parents lost my brother when he was two years of age. He had pneumonia and my parents did not have health insurance at that time. It was a loss that my mother never recovered from. It was always a very trying time during my late brother’s birthdate or the anniversary date of his death. I hope the families who have suffered a loss from the recent shootings will realize that they will need professional help. So often people of color are not accepting of ongoing counseling, friends and relatives will tell them to pray and that will solve everything. Prayer is helpful but a good therapist is also a large part of the equation. I was talking to a professional counselor recently and he told me that I should be “high-fiving” myself in the mirror every morning. I asked why, he said you keep pushing forward and you seek happiness. I said to myself faking it until I make it, and that is what we have to do sometimes. We all have our bad days when a good cry is in order but find something to bring joy into your life. I went out the other day and brought flowers to plant and it was a beautiful sunny day, and the plants were on sale. Now that is happiness.
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