Encouragement!

en·cour·age·ment

inˈkərijmənt,enˈkərijmənt/

noun
the action of giving someone support, confidence, or hope.

I suppose I could be writing on more muckraking or more horrid things that the city people are doing. But I just wanted to take the time out to encourage everyone because so many people have been encouraging me.

It's been a bit exhausting to have been on the front page of the LA Times. (I mean I never knew that fighting for our boxing gym would lead to this! Jeez!)

But all in all, I just wanted to thank everyone who has given me more hope and confidence. My friends and mentors have expressed such great support. And after the article blew over into yesterday's news, what I was left with was a sense of gratefulness that so many people care about me and issues that we've been tackling.

The article, also, really affected lawyers - and a number of lawyers just encouraged me to keep going. They want to see a happy ending to my story - our story. I really feel wealthier that people, people I don't even know, spoke such healing words into my life. When you're exhausted, the Chinese say, "Jia You" (Add Fuel). Encouragement really adds that kind of fuel to your life.

Furthermore, one of my workshop groups told me to be an encouragement to others. I just wanted to say that it took a lot of work, effort, blood, sweat, and tears to get this far in my journey. And at this point, the Times saw it as a story to be remembered. We've just made history in the City of Los Angeles.

So, if you feel beat and broken, keep going. Nothing great ever gets accomplished without hard work. And as I've learned, you might be closer to your goal than you think.

Just imagine for yourself what the next step is, and then do what it takes to get there. You might not be as far away from what you need to do as you think.

If you've been encouraged this week, by me or by others, I hope that you take the time to also build someone else up in the week. You never know how your words could change someone's life.