“I believe that children are our future Teach them well and let them lead the way Show them all the beauty they possess inside Give them a sense of pride to make it easier Let the children’s laughter remind us of how we used to be.” Whitney Houston – The Greatest Love of All
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Dear Children,
It is time to learn from the mess that the earlier generations have created. Are you going to become a victim? Or are you going to rise above the mess and struggle and be the ones to make that change? The choice is yours.
Are you going to become a puppet to the society that breeds materialism, hatred, fake love, and overconsumption of technology, content, and entertainment? A puppet to a generation that has overused and misused medicine, drugs, and alcohol and is still sick and unhappy with high counts of depression, disease, and suicide?
Are you going to continue to be consumers and puppets to the food industry that sells you disease and sickness and obesity through healthy and fun foods and drinks?
Are you going to become a victim to entertainment companies that openly say their job is to keep people awake at night, so you consume more content and entertainment at the cost of your health to make someone else richer?
Are you going to become a victim of instant gratification, where you need everything right now to feel good, happy, and better about yourself? While convenience is nice and we all like it, is it worth losing your own and your loved ones’ health over?
Food apps that give you convenience but the unhealthiest food?
Entertainment channels that give you a dopamine rush, yet rob you of sleep, and fill your head with thrash, lies, and a reality that doesn’t exist at most times?
Of course watch stuff, but how much and what kind? What you feed your mind, what you see, and what you consume, eventually and surely becomes YOU.
How long are you going to continue to fill your void, which is not always your fault, with more alcohol, drugs, over-socializing, overeating, and self-harm?
Can you make the change now, by starting to understand that you are in a vicious cycle and only YOU can break it with the right help and putting in the work?
How much longer are you going to be a victim of the destruction of our air, nature, land, and sea? What have and what are the generations right now leaving for you and those to come? What change can you make for a better world?
How much longer and how much more suffering do you want to see consuming your parents, loved ones, friends, and grandparents? Lifestyle diseases caused by poor nutrition, lack of exercise, sleep deprivation, and chronic stress…
Does it seem normal that in a world like today, filled with so much comfort, technology, medicine, supplements, gyms, meditation, and spirituality, we see so much suffering? Shouldn’t it be getting better? Reflect on what you think is going wrong.
Read nutritional labels and make a choice. The more junk and sugar you consume, the richer you are making greedy companies out there and the sicker you are making yourself. Enjoy junk once in a way, but eat healthily. Eat a rainbow, it’s so much fun. Drink that water, poop when you wake up, move more, play better, and sleep deep. Do things that make you happy if you feel unhappy, make the change.
How much longer are you going to be a victim of entitlement? Do you feel you are entitled to everything? That life is a bed of roses, only good things happen, and everyone is good and loves you?
Life is as beautiful as YOU make it. To make it beautiful you need to learn to accept, let go, learn, always continue to learn, forgive and use mistakes, failures, suffering, and your past beautiful teachers. Use your own experiences and those of others to teach you to live real life.
Do you think your parents messed up? Of course, you didn’t sign up for it. You can wish it was better, you can intend for it to be better. But now, it is what it is. It is called life. Take all the help you need. Sometimes sit with your parents, and talk to them about their childhood and life. Some parents are so broken. It will explain many of their behaviors. You will start to understand what they have gone through. Of course, it doesn’t give them the right or the justification though, but understanding is a beautiful gift for you and others.
As you grow up you will learn and come across all kinds of people. There will be those who call you names, make you feel ugly, and use you as a punching bag just to feel better about themselves and their lives. They will put you down, laugh at you, tease you, and bully you. Take all the help you need. Do what you need, but remember this, you are not what other children or people define you to be.
You are YOU. And know who you are so well, that no one can ever change that definition of you. You can look them in the eye and say, “I know who I am. I don’t believe you and you can have your opinion.” Then walk away.
There will be times when you grow up and are told being cool is smoking cigarettes, consuming alcohol, drugs, and so on. Remember always that doesn’t make you cool in any way. All the so-called people you think are cool by doing it, are struggling with voids, insecurities, and low self-esteem. They try to use all these vices irresponsibly to feel better or look cooler. You don’t need to be them or anyone else. You only have to be YOU.
Do you know about biometrics? No one can ever be you. Each and everyone one of us is born with a unique talent or gift whether we are blind, less fortunate, sick, or healthy. Find it and use it to build and create something beautiful.
Everyone doesn’t have to love you, say the things you wanna hear, or behave in a way that you want them to. Remember that you have the choice to accept, let go, and decide who you want to be friends with and when you want to walk away.
Believe in fairies, goblins, pixies, elves, dragons, monsters, aliens, and Santa Claus. Imagination is where all the wonder and beauty and success comes from. Don’t let anyone pop your bubble. Your mind is the most powerful tool you will ever own, to create or destroy. Use it well. Don’t miss out on your childhood. May it be filled with fantasies, fairy tales, nature, play, laughter, love, and a feeling of safety and great health.
To bring anything into your life, imagine that it is already there. Nothing great that you see or like could ever have happened without it being imagined whether it is a book, a movie, a song, or a video game. Use your beautiful imagination to create a life of beauty, health, change, love, and happiness.
You are the future. You can choose to be a victim of the mess that was and is created. Or you can choose to be part of a whole new generation that will come together to rebuild, recreate, and reimagine the most powerful gifts of all. The gift of health The gift of nature The gift of life
Remember, without clean food, clean air, clean water, and love – human life cannot thrive.
Are you ready to be the change and make that change and look back with pride?
Dear Parents,
Lead by example. You want your kids to change but you don’t want to change? Not happening.
You want to stay up late every night yet you try to teach them the health benefits of sleep? Lead first.
You want them to eat healthily, but all they see you eating is junk and packaged and wrong foods? Lead first.
You want to cultivate good values in them yet you don’t practice them yourself?
You give them talks on the ill effects of smoking, yet they see you do it, or you allow it by others in front of them in your home. What message are you giving them?
You allow them to watch thrash on TV, programs that are not meant for them, and then you hold them responsible for their thoughts and behavior?
You want them to consume less screen time, yet you don’t make an effort to do the same?
You live a life of instant gratification and you expect them to learn patience?
We all need to make the change and lead from the front. Children learn from what they see, not what you say. Be a role model.
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Dear Children,
Life is a mix of everything. Happiness, sadness, ups, and downs, light, and darkness. Use acceptance, letting go, forgiveness, understanding, tolerance, and a spirit of never giving up. Take help when needed, and do not pile on or suppress more emotions into you, you will burst at some point. Talk, communicate, and share with the right people. Lighten up your load. Remember you can never be someone else, and no one else can be you. Build and follow your beautiful path.
Enough is enough. Every one of us needs to decide that enough is enough and start to make a change.
Luke Coutinho practices in the field of Holistic Nutrition and Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine. He is the pioneer and founder of the You Care Wellness Program which has consulted and treated over 20,000 patients globally. This integrative lifestyle program revolves around five fundamental pillars - Cellular Nutrition, Adequate Exercise, Quality Sleep, Emotional Detox, and the Spirit. It has now stemmed into a beautiful community with over a million people. His free videos, blogs, challenges, and programs have helped people reverse lifestyle conditions, put cancers into remission, and overcome suicidal tendencies to live happier lives.
Luke has authored four bestsellers and won several national and international awards. He is the Champion for Lifestyle and Wellness for PM Narendra Modi’s Fit India Movement. He is the founder of India's first ethical wellness platform, You Care Lifestyle, where all things are verified by Luke and his team. He is also the founder and chief program mentor for Integrative Nutrition and Dietetics courses at the Lifeness Science Institute (LSI). He travels the world to speak on holistic wellness and empower people to live their most extraordinary life.
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