In my previous marriage, I did not stand up for myself.  Now, that’s all I do!  I stand up for myself and encourage other to stand up for themselves.  Honestly, I have learned that when it comes to my family, my friends and myself, it is the most important thing in my life.  To stand up for yourself and for what is right.

Teaching the kids that I drive to stand up for themselves is incredibly important.  Most people thing that being a school bus driver, is just that, driving.  Wrong!  Last week, one of my high school girls was telling me about a problem she was having with a boy.  I encouraged her to stand up for herself and walk away from the situation.  By the end of the week, she had done just that, and felt great about herself for doing it.

I also taught my daughter to stand up last week.  My daughter is in 7th grade, so drama is a daily occurrence.  However, this particular day, she was approached by a boy and “asked out”.  Unfortunately, this boy had just broken up with one of her best friends.  She was confused and did not know how to handle the situation.  I told her that she could not break her friend’s heart by dating this boy.  I informed her that one of the major “friends rules” is that you NEVER date a friend’s ex.  She did me proud the next day and went and told him off!

Standing up for what you believe in and finding out what you stand for in your life is probably one of the hardest lessons to learn.  It is usually learned by making a lot of mistakes and getting your heart broken a few times, but it can be done.  Standing up also makes you feel good about yourself, like you can hold your head high because you did what feels good with no regrets.  With encouragement from adults in their lives, kids can make it through to adulthood with a sense of who they are and what they are going to stand for in their lives.

So STAND UP!