I grew up on welfare in government subsidized housing in an abusive and violent home environment by a parent who had a mental illness. As a result, I struggled with my self-esteem. I was told I was worthless, and I believed that lie, but once I attended university and did very well in my classes, and loved learning, I realized that I did have something to offer the world.

We create our lives with our thoughts, whether they are negative or positive. Our actions follow our thoughts. If we believe we can do what we desire to do, we can. In turn, if we believe we can’t do something, we won’t. Our thoughts, beliefs, and even words have incredible power to create the life that we desire.

The chaos will subside. It always does. The negative feelings will change into positive ones. Your emotions will calm. You are powerful when you choose to be.

You can overcome obstacles. Even with obstacles and challenges, you can persevere. I grew up on welfare and we did not have many books in our home. In my family, we were not read to by our parents, who may not have understood the importance of reading to children. Along with other factors, this may have led to me being behind in school and attending a special education class for speech assistance.

Our young people are looking outside themselves for direction and validation, the last place they should be looking. They are dressing to fit in, doing the same things as the other kids, looking at their friends, classmates, celebrities, and social media influencers to find out who they are and who they think they want to be.

As a child, my home was filled with poverty and abuse. While I understood now that both of my parents had a mental illness, at the time it was devastating. I initially had good self-esteem as a young child, but eventually after hearing negative things over and over, and being physically and emotionally abused, my positive self-esteem was destroyed. I didn’t think I had anything to offer the world. However, I wanted to work with children and teenagers who struggled through