Avoid the rock throwers.

"I had the opportunity to tour the district of Marjeh and see what our Marines are accomplishing. They are doing amazing things and they live true to the (Marine Corps) saying, "No better friend, no worse enemy". Of course, I'm leaning to the front part of that statement. Over the past two days, I have seen over 500 kids from the ages of 2-12 run up to our convoy and give us a thumbs up. I asked if this was good or if the kids meant something else by it - if it was vulgarity or something. I was assured that this was a good sign, minus the one kid who threw a rock. But, 500 thumbs-up and 1 rock... I hope that is a sign of what your Marines are doing. We will see how those numbers increase tomorrow. Semper Fi!" -Facebook status update from my deployed husband (with a few minor editorial corrections by his English major wife who has grammar/punctuation OCD.)

 

I love this. It's a great reminder that even when you're doing the very best you can, you can't please everybody. There's always going to be that one "rock thrower" who will question your motives and protest your efforts. The important thing is not to let them bring you down. The important thing is to remember there are still five hundred other people who want you to succeed. Failure is not an option. (And all that other "moto" stuff. Moto = motivational phrases Marines use to psych each other up. See also: "Oorah", "Semper Fi", and "Get Some".) I don't want this to become a motivational blog post where I'm saying cheesy lines like "Believe in yourself" and "Be the best YOU you can be". Not that those aren't important life lessons, of course. It is important to believe in yourself and to have strong convictions that what you're doing is right. We're not all lucky(?) enough to have children running after us, cheering us on and giving the thumbs up. And sometimes the rock throwers are going to make a louder noise. But the supporters are still there nonetheless.

 

Even if the only supportive voice you hear is your own, telling you to just.keep.going.