5/6/21

Dear Atlas,

It’s me, your Dad.

I sometimes wonder if every child is born with pure ideals and hopes. As children, we are born innocent into this plane[t] and crafted by the experiences we encounter as we grow older.

When I was younger, I felt heavy disappointment when I was wronged. It felt like double pain to receive a blow from somebody, then feel deep disappointment inside because what happened shouldn’t have happened. I felt a love lost for the world and a dwindling of my hopes that others would be faithful, trustworthy, and kind.

In my twenties, I learned a short phrase that helped me through these difficult moments, a phrase that helped me understand I wasn’t the problem: “People give you what they have.”

From dollars to donuts, this is how life works. You can apply this wisdom by reminding yourself that in every encounter with other people, they have a certain bandwidth for what they can give you.

Some people truly don’t have it in them to be kind. The universe needs those people to be the pain of other people’s day, because it makes the moments of kindness that much more appreciated.

I hope you are the type of person who lights up other people’s day, Atlas. That’s probably more from my side of things. I hope you treat other people with respect, dignity, courtesy, and patience.

The world desperately needs good people right now, Atlas. I hope you are one of them.

Love,

Dad