"Hidden Beauty is All Around You!"
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| By Eddie Sanchez |
Today I want to tell you why I love Brownsville and why Brownsville Living must exist for me. I thought I was reaching a bit of a writer's block with my recent wave of inspiration but then I read some guy's post on one my first blog post from last week. I don't want to quote him directly as I have no need to pick a fight but he made some very negative comments about Brownsville on my very positive post. His mindset reminded me why BL exists and why I feel the way I do about this community.
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| By - Eddie Sanchez |
Look, let's be honest no one sets their sites on ending up in Brownsville, TX. I have lived in some amazing places and could have taken a career path that would have taken me to New York or California or any number of exotic places. But that was not in the cards for me and I am grateful for it. I ended up here because by chance I married someone from here and we needed the family network when we had our first child. That's pretty much it and I am sure not an uncommon story.
I visited here for several years prior to making the move... so I kind of grew fond of it before moving here. You see I tend to be a bit contrary to the common grain of opinion. It's just in my nature. If I am at a place everyone loves I would probably find out what's not great. If I am in a place that everyone complains about... I guess I find and focus on the positives. That's just being completely honest.
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You must understand I am not blind to the negatives of our community. But one thing past relationships have taught me is that if you focus on the negative you make it bigger. For example if you are in a romantic relationship and you focus on your mate's imperfection you will increase your awareness of it and increase the likelihood that it will actually get worse. If you focus on someone's weight and constantly comment on it chances are they will resent you for doing so and be unhappy and thus probably put on more weight. It becomes a vicious cycle of negative reinforcement. The best way to deal with a negative attribute is focus on the positive attributes and make changes in your own behavior. Simply put, we can't change our partner no matter how hard we try and we can't change the world... so we must change how we perceive and react to these things.
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| By Eddie Sanchez |
Brownsville lacks a great deal that is true but what it lacks in some things it makes up in others. For example Brownsville may not have a lot of great entertainment options but it has some awesome local restaurants where you see friends and the owners. We don't have the greatest roads in the world but we have very little traffic compared to most cities. There aren't a ton of jobs here but if you are willing to go out on your own or if you work hard at just about any given job here you can and will rise to the top of that particular path.
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Those were some of the first differences I noticed upon moving here. It was quite a contrast as I came from Austin where there are millions of jobs but the competition is very stiff. There are tons of entertainment options but for the most part they are cold and impersonal. The roads are a hundred times better than Brownsville but there is constantly construction and traffic is horrendous. So as you can see this is a very clear contrast to Austin and most cosmopolitan cities.
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On the surface most would say Austin is a better place to live but when you really live there it's a grind. I spent two hours a day minimum just in traffic. I don't even want to know how much of my life would have gone to that if I had stayed there all these years. And you can live in the town for years and never get to know anyone. And most of the attractions that we hear so much about... well when you live there you never go to them. So you end up basically living a more stressful and more expensive life spending less time with family and doing the things you like.
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| Photo Credit - Eddie Sanchez |
Now that we have contrasted the obvious let's focus on Brownsville itself. Brownsville is an amazing unique community for a myriad of reasons. The main problem with Brownsville is the attitude of many people in the community. People are so brain washed with the concept that it is bad here that they literally can't see the good qualities. Most people have no idea that Brownsville is second only two San Antonio when it comes to Historic Structures. Most people never truly see or appreciate our amazing resacas. Most people are spoiled to the nature and coastal areas just miles away. Most locals have never been to the any of the 3 major museums we have here. And although many appreciate the Zoo you'd think that is the only positive thing they have ever heard about.
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You see a negative mentality is contagious. The negative mentality in this community in my opinion derives from the fact that most people are from here and rarely leave. When you are raised in a place it's very common to be blind to the things you have come to take for granted. Additionally, we have very few new people coming to the community compared to many areas. So their influences is insignificant. And in fact when they move here many fall into the negative mindset because they start asking around what's great about this place or what is there to do and they are met with blank stares. I know, I have been on all sides of this equation. I am blessed with the life experience to see it from all angles.
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| Photo By Matias Alvarado |
So we get to the point of this article. I love Brownsville because I choose to. I love Brownsville because that is what allows me to be happy with my place in life. I love Brownsville because it has given me so many opportunities I would not have elsewhere. I love Brownsville because of the people I have met that feel the same way. I make myself love Brownsville by focusing on everything that is good at this place and refusing to take part in the negative. The negative mentality of this town did grab a hold of me for a while and it had a great impact but I shook it off, learned from it and moved on. I do not blame Brownsville for the negative things that have happened to me. I blame myself for letting a negative mentality effect my life. So each day I wake up and I look for the good in Brownsville because that is what I need to get by.
I share the good that I see because I want to make it bigger and better. I want more people to see it and share it and most of all...
Be part of it.
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| Author Craig Grove |
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