Stand Up 4 Yourself

My friend D.J. was a retired nurse. A stroke at the age of 39 took his medical career and his martial arts studies. But he plowed on through life for another sixteen years lecturing and giving concerts on disability rights and spiritual health.

He was not perfect and claimed to have more flaws than any ten people put together. He endured deadly depression, and he loved to help others fight their own depression. He noticed one day that I was depressed and asked why.

I said, “I don’t know. I just think I’m no good. I just keep telling myself I’m no good and–”

“STOP!” he said. DJ was about five-foot-four and maybe weighed a buck and a quarter, but he had an immense and powerful voice. He shut me up quickly. Then he said. “You wouldn’t let anybody else talk to you that way, would you?”

I said, “No.”

He said, “Then don’t you do it, either.”

I already knew better, but that reminder from a fellow brawler stuck with me ever since.

It takes courage to stand up for yourself. It takes work, and it takes good habits.