I Have a Dream!

(Lights Up)
(Woman drags soap box out to center of stage, puts mouth to microphone)

I had a paradigm shift. How often do we get caught up in our day to day life and never really stop to think about something we might be missing out on?

At this leadership conference, it dawned on me that there are so many teens that are left out of my community. We have a high rate of AIDS, teen pregnancies, suicide, alcohol and drug abuse (with teens!), homosexuality and teens that live with abusive parents. It is a largely ignored subculture that no one here wants to deal with so we just ignore it.

And I decided that I want to do something to deal with it. I want these teens to feel loved and accepted just as they are. Mold breeds in the dark and problems grow when ignored. I think there is a real hope that people don't want to really live that way and that it can be curbed. I would like these issues to be the exception to the common, not the expected.

People have an attitude towards teenagers that they want to ruin their lives and live in rebellion. I disagree. I think that teens want to feel loved and accepted just like everyone else on this planet and sometimes that motivation puts them in bad situations. It is sad when someone's potential in life is cut off before they even really get started.

So where do I start? The people I went to this conference with are motivated to start working to reach more teens that we aren't really seeing right now. We are going to cast a vision and build a dream. I actually think that we might be effective! I feel like I am just day-dreaming or that this could all end up being a pipe dream, but if I set a goal and never get there, at least I will get somewhere.

I would ultimately like to see teens free of addictions, diseases, abuse and have them know that life is better than what they are being subjected to right now.

Maybe I will get shot.
(Lights Dim)
(Curtain Closes)