No. You move.

The gut- wrenching truth I keep being faced with is that after all these years, the depression etc... the fundamental root of it all is that I just don't like myself. It was embedded early, and stuck, and I'll tell you why.

Because I was skinny, nerdy kid who liked Star Trek and dinosaurs, and at every turn I was told that was pathetic. Odd. Weird. Disgusting, even. I was sensitive too, and that was frowned upon. A reader. But in 'macho' rural Northern Ireland, those are big no-no's. I had no interest in football, tractors, or cars. I still remember what people said about me, what they did. And as a young kid I thought I was the problem, not them. I thought I had to change, to hide.

Fuck. That. Noise. I know that now. But that kernel of self-hate remains. Way down in my planetary core. And when things get bad, I realise how influential it still is. Bottom line; kids remember. How you treat them at that developmental stage of life is crucial.

So be kind. Have empathy. Stand up for the bullied and marginalised, encourage them. Never, ever tell a child they're weak, or silly, or pathetic. Or that they'll never be a hero. Do everything to raise them with moral and inner strength.

In a world that's out to crush us all, stop messing around with half-measures and be a fucking hero. God knows we need them.