Wow. Just...Wow.

Thank you.

I am overwhelmed and humbled by the kind words that you've posted over the past couple of days, as well as the emails, IMs and Tweets you've sent. Thank you for your kindness, your compassion, your indignation on my behalf and your support. For those of you I know personally, I'm looking forward to giving out big hugs the next time I see you. For those I only know through the blogosphere, I hope I get the chance to meet you in "real life" and thank you face to face.

The author Elbert Hubbard wrote, "To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing." I used to be terrified of criticism - it would literally make me sick to my stomach. I couldn't handle anyone being upset with me, so I was a limp noodle - I didn't stand for anything and I didn't voice my opinions on anything for fear of upsetting someone, because I thought if someone disagreed with me, that meant I would be instantly disliked. I wanted desperately to be liked, so I was - for lack of a better word - a cowardly weenie.

I'm getting over that (maybe you've noticed - heh). I decided that I was tired of "being nothing" in my impossible effort to make everyone happy, so I started staking my claim in the world, so to speak. I'm losing my fear of having an opinion, slowly but surely. This blog is one way of doing that.

So to all of you who read, consider and respectfully comment, you have my sincere thanks and my request to please continue doing so as often as possible. For those who choose to go beyond that into personal, disrespectful and deliberately hurtful comments, you'll no longer be published here - for your own sake.

You see, your comments don't hurt me. I know who I am, I know where I stand, I know where I'm going, and - while I am far from perfect - I like myself. No, the only one your comments hurt are you, because of what they reveal about you. And that I think, if you really thought about it, you wouldn't want anyone to know.