Your challenge is ready

You want a challenge? Ok, let's go:
Be the reason that someone smiles tomorrow

If you want, you can put in the hard work today
Be kind to someone who comes your way
Listen to someone who is having a hard time
Write a friend a jaunty rhyme
Bake some cakes to give to someone new
They'll smile tomorrow when they think of you

Or push the deadline, seize opportunity
Tell a joke to give the air some levity
Invite someone alone to to go for lunch
Get some grapes then share a bunch

It ain't always easy, so appreciate this all the while
How thankful you are for the people that make you smile

Bitter tastes

I've never been a fan of bitterness

It's a taste I adverse to but nonetheless
I hear so many people I respect talk its praise
They all wax lyrical about bitter days
How it builds them, instils in them
A hope that can improve them
That the bitterness sits In a way to make things better
Without bitterness, any sweetness is just an inkless letter
Give me coffee, give me dark chocolate. Give. Me. Beer. 

Meanwhile I'm just sitting in the dark out here.
Bitterness has only ever filled me with a sense of fear.

Why would I find joy in the taste of a tear?
I'm not spurred on by a series of unfortunate events
And I don't believe every misfortune is heaven-sent
But they enjoy the aftertaste it leaves on your lips
Savouring the unpleasantness upon their nerve tips
And I'll never tell them they're wrong for a cup of strong black tea

Just let them know that I'm afraid it just isn't for me
It's not what inspires me to step on my next journey

So then what, if not bitterness, makes me a motivatee?
What gives me get up and go if not a bitter taste?
There's so much value in bitterness why let it go to waste?
Well, quite simply, I want to have a more positive mind.

There's so much criticism it's easy to find.
I'm more driven instead by not falling behind.

Trying to push myself even if going in blind.
To be a better me, because I want to get better.

Not because I'm upset with where I am. I'm not bitter.
I can appreciate my climb and still want to go higher.

Instead of seeking determination, I'd rather be inspired.

Tough Love

We all develop in different ways
With different ladders on different days
There's so much nuance in how we grow
In the debts of knowledge we chose to owe

And yet, with many an option and solution
Some always lean towards one resolution
No matter the problem, it rises above
They claim the only answer to be "tough love"

Now, I'm not saying tough love doesn't have it's place
But it should always come second to patience and grace
A last resort when other options fail
A way to bitterly end an overly long tale

And I'm not necessarily saying tough love doesn't succeed!
I haven't done to research on that point that I need
Instead I'm focusing on the price, the cost
The bad things you gained and the good things you lost

That's the thing about tough love. It's tough.
And some people (most people) have already had enough
So forgive me my softness, but in its stead
I think I'll settle for "kind love" instead

Across humanity

All across humanity
I have met many friends
Across races and religions
Across cities and glens

They have different hair
Some are small some are tall
Their accents are unique
And I'm fond of them all

But to get to this point
I had to unlearn many things
To forget any stereotypes
That my subconscious brings

I have to be open
See each person anew
To exist on their own
Let the human shine through

It is not always easy
Sometimes I spoke wrong
Being social is hard
Forgiveness can be long

But for all my efforts
I am thankful in the end
So that across humanity
I can know many friends