Rumour has it that negativism prevails
The overweight thinks of himself, “everything I eat turns to fat”
The lousy housewife confesses doom as soon as the day breaks
Viewing the wreck, she sighs; “I’ll never get this mess cleaned up”

The labourer steps into his shop and is quick to lament
“Boy! I’ll never get all this work done today”

A young lad returns from school and pre-informs his dad
“I’m afraid I flunked the arithmetic test”, dad reassures son,
“Don’t sweat it son, you’ve come by it honestly,
I never really could learn that stuff either.

A mother sends her child off to school
And warns her, “Now don’t get run over”

The weather man on TV says we have 20% chance of rain
Or that it will be partly cloudy. Why doesn’t he just say that
We have 80% chance of sunshine and that it will be mostly fair?
The average person is quick to retort “Not so bad” when asked how he is doing

The well intentioned preacher who only stresses God’s judgment
With little or no mention of God’s love, dwelling on punishment,
So much that we forget about rewards, grace, love, forgiveness.

When the parent who apparently passed down to you
The features you have via DNA, ridicules your appearance
The teacher who means to help your ignorance
Questions your intelligence and thinks you’re dumb

When friends, family, associates and well-meaning others
Find fault like there’s a reward for it; you get a distorted view of YOU

Exaggerated statements said to a youngster who breaks a dish
“You are the clumsiest boy I have ever seen; you are always dropping things”
What a burden for a child to carry! To begin with, it is not true.
Breaking a dish does not mean being clumsy, anyone can break a dish.

Unthinking series of statements in form of insinuations and innuendos
Are just as real and devastating as though they were true
An unintentional remark starts a negative shade which is then fed by hurts,
Hurts real or imagined; seeing ourselves through the negative eyes of others

The usual devastating put-downs imply that a person is basically bad
Rather than that he is a person who sometimes does bad things

So a person thinks of himself as ugly or dumb or inept
And concludes since he doesn’t deserve love from others
It follows that he cannot, even should not, love himself
Isn’t this a destructive approach, shouldn’t it be so obvious?

We are too quick to forget that beauty is not what we worked for
If everyone knew it mattered how they looked on this side of life
They would have carefully chosen handsome and pretty parents
Or would have had an I.Q test for would-be parents to ensure

Society’s emphasis on physical appearance is killing many today
Survey reveals 95% of youths would change their appearance if they could

Maybe while growing up you were constantly served hot meals of words like:
“You’re the roughest kid in the neighbourhood”, “You have no usefulness”
“You wear your shoes out faster than any child in this neighbourhood”
“You’re too short – too tall”, “You never look nice, and you’re always a mess”

Some may have started a rumour, such as what they’ve seen you play out
“You’re always late”, “What else can we expect, you never do anything right”

Do you remember that classmate who just enjoyed teasing the whole class?
Making you all comported upon his announcement that one of the toughest
Teachers was approaching your class, when in reality there was none
I dare to say that all the negative words you’ve heard of you, are FALSE

You might have heard them more times than you’ve heard your name called
My responsibility here is to give you a truer and newer picture
Of the remarkable person who is going to take you to the top – YOU!

I think you’re one of the smartest persons who ever drew a breath of air
You’re an asset to your profession and a credit to your community
We may not have met, but I’m sure you’re the kind of person I’d like
I’m certain I’ll feel motivated and inspired to be my best self around you

To say ‘there is no one like you’ is not only a statement reserved for God divine
It is the truest statement of each creature, unique in its composition and ability.
So disregard every rumour, no matter how apparent you think it is!
Remember, opinion polls don’t matter much, human feelings are fickle.