Tradition

Traditional ways of thinking
Are destroying the lives of men
 
When you just judge things
By the way you THINK they should be
 
How can you say you have any real grip on reality?
 
I don’t THINK you can
 
I think traditional ways of thinking
Are destroying the lives of man
 
 
I grew up without my father
He left three months after I was born
 
I didn’t take it too personally though
I knew it wasn’t my fault he got up and left with the dawn
 
I knew it wasn’t my fault that he didn’t say goodbye
 
And I even knew it wasn’t my fault
He was too weak to even lie
 
He just went to work one morning
And didn’t come back
 
Until my twentieth birthday
 
By which time I was like,
Really… Seriously…? Your timing is whack!
 
I grew up without my father
But that is not the definition of how I was raised
 
…I was brought up but my mother.
 
Are you familiar with the kind of woman that,
That does it alone,
That works for her own
 
Who loves and raises,
Who disciplines and praises
 
Encourages and nourishes                                              
Literally and intellectually
Always striving to bring out the best in me
 
The kind of woman who guides and protects
Whose presence commands respect
 
Whose laugh can make you forget
The worse day at work ever!
 
Just by sitting and catching jokes with her.
 
Are you familiar with that type of woman?
 
She does it all without complaining,
Without blaming
Without naming and shaming
 
Traditional no. Phenomenal.
 
Woman is she.
 
Traditional ways of thinking are  
Suppressing so many women in our society  
 
 
I grew up without a father
So I am proof that it can be done
 
But that’s not to say
That I don’t see the benefits of growing up with one
 
I simply don’t think tradition should be used as an excuse
To justify your own choice to stay
 
“But the kids need their father around”
 
Really?
 
How many times have I heard a woman say, that
 
“It’s for the sake of the kids, I’m not doing this for me,
I can’t teach my son to be a man,
I can’t teach him the lessons only his father can”
 
But what kind of man do you want your son to grow up to be?
Look me in my eye and tell me
“Just like his daddy”
 
And what kind of man do you want your daughter to attract?
The kind of man that berates her
And hits when she talks back?
 
The lessons we teach our children are set by example
Do as I say and not what I do is cute, but
Where’s the foundation to follow that through?
 
We are their blue print.
 
A traditional family unit is a blessing of course
But in what world do you know where a blessing is forced?
 
That’s not a blessing. It’s a lie
 
The truth is,
 
If he beats you, he can beat them
If he disrespects you, he’s disrespecting them
 
If he abuses you, he’s abusing them
 
Traditional ways of thinking are destroying the lives of our children.
 
Admit it,
 
That you are not strong enough to walk away
And that all the excuses you make
Are just the reasons why your children have to pay
 
It’s okay to admit that you’re scared though,
How else will you know that it’s time to be strong?
 
Decisions, just like traditions
Can be changed  
When we know that they are wrong.