RELEASE DISAPPROVAL

People are always going to have an opinion about what you do.

They will have an opinion about how you parent, where you live, why you still work at the same job, for goodness’ sake.

And your potential.

Because you are STILL not fulfilling it.

Yes, they are going to have opinions about it all.

And the same goes for your daughter.  

Kids will comment on her looks, her braces, her crush, her grades…

Because not a lot goes unnoticed in elementary school.

Let alone middle school or high school.

But other people’s opinions are usually not a problem for us…

until the dreaded moment when they turn into DISAPPROVAL.

You know exactly where you tend to hear them from the most…

Maybe from your parents. A certain friend. Colleagues. Social media.

Whoever it may be, you know how it makes you feel when it happens…

Angry. Sad. Misunderstood. Rejected. Or even perhaps dejected.

But it actually doesn’t have to be this way… because it kind of works in a funny way.

And that’s because every one of us humans

is almost like a ZOO ANIMAL living in a glass cage.

And you friends, colleagues, parents, partner, siblings, strangers… will periodically walk by and maybe even stop for a little bit and notice a few things here and there.  

Maybe the way you dressed today, or the new way you decorate, who you invited over, or how you or your kids behave…

And they might even tell you – from behind the glass of course – all the things that you should be doing differently.

And there are actually quite a few.

Who knew?!

But since you are behind the glass – you notice that their words don’t really affect you.

You hear them, yes, but from behind the glass it’s mumbled.

Or maybe it’s just the mask.

But either way you realize that from behind the glass, you have a very different view…

AND THEIR WORDS CAN’T ACTUALLY AFFECT YOU.

And then you notice the sign just below your window…

Maybe it’s new?!

You are a zoo animal.

Everyone behind the glass gets to think

whatever they choose.  

And then it hits you…

This is just what humans do when we go to the zoo.

We gawk. We comment. We judge. We wave.

And sometimes we even knock on the window.

But once we exhaust ourselves, we move on.

And then we do it all over again, in front of a different view. 

So let them LOOK. Let them CRITICIZE. Let them MARVEL.

They’ll move on soon enough to find something new.

Because at some point,

we all do.