We've all heard the saying, "If you don't have something nice to say, then don't say it at all." Social media has the power build us up, or tear us down. Memes are everywhere. We share them on social media, we talk about them, and they make us laugh.
Sometimes it’s the success kid celebrating everyday small victories like remembering why you walked in your room. Or maybe it's the surreal, blurred out shot of Mr. Krabs relating to countless real life moments like reaching for your phone and realizing it's not there.
If you’ve heard Drake’s “0 to 100” song, then you probably recognize his “Steph Curry with the shot” lyric.
So at first glance, scrolling past a meme picturing a thin looking young man next to the famous basketball star, you might think it’s funny to read the caption, “Meth curry with the shot boy.” Until you realize that man depicted as a meth user is actually Leon Mitchell II, who is a motivational cancer survivor with a growing business and loving family. But Leon never allows for anyone’s negativity to bring him down.
Leon didn't always have this happy-go-lucky story, though. When he was plagued with his chance of dying and giving into cancer, his wife came to him and said "I don't feel sorry for you, I feel bad that you're ill and in pain, but I don't feel sorry for you because you're still alive and you are choosing to give up and not live." Then he lived his life from that moment on with a whole new state of mind and will to live that encouraged him to keep fighting. From that moment on him and his wife started saying "Knot Now Or Ever" will I allow this disease to dictate to my life with'Knot' beginning with a 'K' to be represented in his cancer ribbon. His story represents overcoming hate and being the bigger person through any adversity we face. He says "The fact that the meme was posted was a reminder of how distasteful and cruel people can be without background knowledge of the person in the bullseye of the target. I've struggled deeply for years with the devastating effects cancer treatments plagued my body with." So before we just pull whatever picture we want from the internet, creativity is great and all, but we need to make better decisions in what we say about people. Because it's not just a picture. There's a real person behind that face and words can hurt. We all fight our own battles. You never know what a person is suffering through, your words could mean the difference of brightening someone's day. So why put them down just for a stupid retweet? I think the choice is pretty clear. KNOE stands for fighting back negative energy with complete love, to see the best in each other and the good in life.
We never know how our words will affect someone else. In this case, he leads a successful and happy life, but imagine if he didn’t have that. Cancer affects more than just the body. This is why we need to start being more mindful of the impact our posts could have on others. The good always outweighs the bad so to avoid this let's spread positive thinking like Leon's inspiring story. Let's build people up instead of tearing them down. Focus on truth in progress. To learn more about Leon Mitchell II and his KNOE Clothing brand, check out the links below.
KNOE Clothing: knoeclothing.com
Instagram: @mr_knoe
