Why don’t you do things this way?
Why don’t you wear that?
Why do you take life so hard?
Smile and relax!

We have a lot of advice for everyone else, it seems

And some of it comes from a place of
Compassion of course
But to accept someone as he or she is
That is love that’s mature

It says you don’t need to change to please me or anyone else
You need not improve to be acceptable
You are loved as you are
I respect your choices in life

To respect others’ choices
Especially those we don’t agree with
Is not easy

But when we do
We are sending them the message
That they have agency in their lives
Their decisions count
And they are free to choose their path in life

April 2017