Dear Young People,

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I know life is tough right now.

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I know sometimes you walk into schools that do not always feel like they are teaching you what you need to know for the life you want to build. I know sometimes you are searching for jobs that feel like they do not exist. I know you see a lifestyle advertised everywhere you look and wonder how you are supposed to reach it when the opportunities around you do not always match what you see online.

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I know you are scared sometimes.

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There is a lot of noise in the world. A lot of pressure. A lot of uncertainty. And a lot of things that may feel new, confusing, or overwhelming.

But I want you to know something.

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We understand.​

We have been there too.

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We have struggled. We have lost people. We have made mistakes. We have fought battles and, sometimes, we lost them. But we are still here, and we are still fighting.

And now, we are fighting for you and the generations that come after you.

But we cannot do it alone.

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We need you.

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We need everyone to do their part if our communities are going to flourish.

So please, do not hurt one another anymore.

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Learn to see your neighbor as your brother or sister. Want for them what you want for yourself. Support one another. Grow with one another. Build with one another.

We have lost too many friends and family members to violence. Nothing hurts more than watching a mother bury her child.

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We have stood at funerals. We have attended candlelight vigils. We have watched families try to make sense of losses that never should have happened.

We do not want any more candlelight vigils.

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One of the ways we failed was by allowing our pride to get the best of us. We allowed anger, frustration, pain, and sometimes fear to make decisions for us.

Learn from our trauma.

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Some trauma is something you have to learn to live with.

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But some trauma is something you can go through so that the next generation does not have to.

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Do not inherit our pain without also learning from it.

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Love your community.​

Support your community.

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Support the local businesses around you. Create something. Build something. Bring value to the place you call home. When you help your community grow, you create more value for yourself and for the people who come after you.

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Learn about ownership. Learn about building businesses. Learn about buying a home. Learn about investing. Learn about your money and your future.

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And please, Travel.

 

See the world. Meet people who live differently from you. Experience cultures you have never experienced. Learn things that challenge the way you think.

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The world is bigger than your neighborhood.

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Your circumstances may be where your story begins, but they do not have to determine where your story ends.

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You have dreams.

Protect them.

You have a WHY.

Never lose it.

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And remember that you do not have to make it alone.

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We have a responsibility to leave you with more than what we were given.

So let’s build together.

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With love,

Tony Galvao

Founder, Concrete LYFE