I met a very good friend yesterday and it was so nice to see her. She announced she was leaving the city because it was not a good place to raise her Aboriginal children. She wants them to be raised in a city where there are a variety of people who troll the streets begging or behaving in a manner that is frowned upon by society. She said it was difficult to raise her Aboriginal children here.
It is true that Aboriginal people are over-represented in this city because there is a large percentage of Aboriginal people living here, in fact, in all of Canada, this city has the highest per capita population of Aboriginal people. On top of that Aboriginal people are over-represented among the poor.
We would often hear about the Residential School System ,colonialism and capitalism that are at the root of Aboriginal people's negative situation and I do not disagree with that. However most Aboriginal people have made progress in their lives in spite of the historical difficulties. So, when we are confronted with our circumstances, I believe that instead of blaming anything outside of ourselves, we must take responsibility for what happens to us. This is the teaching of Dr. Wayne Dyer whom I listen to quite often. If we continue to blame anyone else, we will be waiting on those people to make amends before we can move on with our lives but if we take full responsibility for whatever happens to us then the power is in our own hands to step out of it in spite of.
He said even if you are have suffered the trauma of sexual or physical abuse you have to take responsibility for it. You have to own it all. You have to tell yourself that you did not know better and you did what you did - you remained quiet, you allowed people to abuse you or feed you unhealthy foods to made you fat - you have to own it all. Because there are people and children faced with the same situation who responded differently. You have to then forgive yourself and promise now that you know better you are going to do better. If you don't you will be colluding in the ongoing victimization of you by other people and circumstances.
Most Aboriginal people, most people who were abused as children have chosen to respond to such trauma differently, some have chosen to fight back and others just did not know what to do and stuck with it. This does not make you a bad person just a person who did not know better. It does not absolve those who committed crimes against you but you have taken leave of it to live your best life in spite of what happened in the past. The present, now, is all we really have. The past is history and if we life there, we are missing out on active living wasting energy on what cannot be changed instead of changing what we can.
What I am saying does not mean you have to forget what happened but you do not have to continue living there. Its like slavery. What happened was atrocious but if all Black people walked around with a chip of their shoulder there would be no President Obama. We have to stare down demons of the past, put them to bed and engage in life. Take our birthright which is living a happy successful life and it starts in the mind.
Quotable Quote
Character - the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life is the source from which self-respect springs - Joan Didion
It is true that Aboriginal people are over-represented in this city because there is a large percentage of Aboriginal people living here, in fact, in all of Canada, this city has the highest per capita population of Aboriginal people. On top of that Aboriginal people are over-represented among the poor.
We would often hear about the Residential School System ,colonialism and capitalism that are at the root of Aboriginal people's negative situation and I do not disagree with that. However most Aboriginal people have made progress in their lives in spite of the historical difficulties. So, when we are confronted with our circumstances, I believe that instead of blaming anything outside of ourselves, we must take responsibility for what happens to us. This is the teaching of Dr. Wayne Dyer whom I listen to quite often. If we continue to blame anyone else, we will be waiting on those people to make amends before we can move on with our lives but if we take full responsibility for whatever happens to us then the power is in our own hands to step out of it in spite of.
He said even if you are have suffered the trauma of sexual or physical abuse you have to take responsibility for it. You have to own it all. You have to tell yourself that you did not know better and you did what you did - you remained quiet, you allowed people to abuse you or feed you unhealthy foods to made you fat - you have to own it all. Because there are people and children faced with the same situation who responded differently. You have to then forgive yourself and promise now that you know better you are going to do better. If you don't you will be colluding in the ongoing victimization of you by other people and circumstances.
Most Aboriginal people, most people who were abused as children have chosen to respond to such trauma differently, some have chosen to fight back and others just did not know what to do and stuck with it. This does not make you a bad person just a person who did not know better. It does not absolve those who committed crimes against you but you have taken leave of it to live your best life in spite of what happened in the past. The present, now, is all we really have. The past is history and if we life there, we are missing out on active living wasting energy on what cannot be changed instead of changing what we can.
What I am saying does not mean you have to forget what happened but you do not have to continue living there. Its like slavery. What happened was atrocious but if all Black people walked around with a chip of their shoulder there would be no President Obama. We have to stare down demons of the past, put them to bed and engage in life. Take our birthright which is living a happy successful life and it starts in the mind.
Quotable Quote
Character - the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life is the source from which self-respect springs - Joan Didion
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