It’s Cool To Be Cool

It’s cool to be cool. If you can’t be cool, it doesn’t mean you have to be. Sometimes it happens when you least expect it. And sometimes, you don’t have an option, but you have to make it one. When I was on the street, I didn’t have an option- but I had to make it that option (to be cool). It was very hard being in a situation where you had no options. I had no one to rely on. I was with a bunch of kids who had no options, but they made it an option, as I did. Though their option was different from mine.

Drugs, stealing, fighting, and provoking people on the street. This was our environment. These were all the things that you can do on the street. Not because you wanted to, but because those were the only things you can do. Of course, it didn’t mean we had to do it. If we’re on the street, it was because there was no other option. That is the life you have and the life you need to live unless there is someone out there to help you. Someone to touch your life or to help change your environment by giving your life  purpose and the options that would give you a new beginning. If someone was not there, you can turn into a burglar where the streets will fear you and you will fear the streets. Then you will only have one option left.

Creating options that gives you choices is not a simple matter; it needs a mind with focus. I had to pave my way to get where I wanted to be. It was very easy to be involved with bad groups, but I believed being an honourable and faithful person was not something that everyone can do unless you make the conscious choice to be one. I always believed that wrongdoings don’t give you honour. I’m not saying that I have never been judged. I am the first person to tell you I have been judged, especially when every person has their own view of a street child.

The world paints the perception of a street kid as a thief, drug addict, a kid who can do nothing and has no plan in life. I had to listen and fall victim to all these perceptions, but that doesn’t mean that I had to accept  and live with them. People will define you as they wish. Don’t stop them or try to tell them that they are wrong, and that what they are thinking is not true. You have to show them that you can change their perception. I always have a strong vision of what I believe and that’s what helped me reached where I am today.

If you want to do something with your life or reach a goal then you have to help yourself so that others can help you. There are street kids with potential, but they either can’t show it, don’t know they have it, or don’t know how to express it. They need people with a God guided intuition to see it. They need just one person, who believes in them enough, to gives them the confidence to believe in themselves convince them that they are special and have potential. I struggled a lot to get where I am, but it was because of what I believed in , a lot of patience and trust that helped me get through it. I didn’t make it here by myself, but rather with the help of friends who believed in me. I am not special, but I am special in my own way. I work hard at everything I start, until it works. That’s my motto.

You don’t need to be rich or own a lot to help people. You need to help others because you can and because you have too. I am saying this because I received help from people who shared the little they have just to make sure you get a glimpse of what they see in you. There are many people with potential, people who can bring changes to our community and to the world, but they can’t do it alone. Imagine helping someone who later on helps another ten, then those ten help a hundred people, and those hundred help a thousand. Won’t you be happy with the circle of changes you have made? Don’t seek for approval to help someone in need or ask for advice to help someone. Just do it. Do it because it’s cool.

Sam