Is This Who You Wanted to Become?

Being able to witness a milestone such as entering a new decade calls for a time of self-reflection. Personally, it’s been a time to think about how far I’ve come in the past 10 years; particularly as a result of the environments I’ve found myself in, and the impact they’ve had on my life. But not just my own, but others as well. I get it - we’re all special in our own way thanks to the Man upstairs. But of course, given free will, we make decisions for ourselves. Those decisions have typically been influenced by our environment - whether we were born in a low-income neighborhood or a wealthy one; whether we grew up in a home with one parent or both; whether we went to a HBCU, a PWI, were home-schooled, or didn’t go to school at all - we were all impacted by external factors. But the question is, how did it play a role in how our lives panned out?

February Release: Products of Own Environments

Yeah I know - its March and this is a February release. But this was a theme that kept coming up last month for me, and I'd been taking some time to unpack. The topic is how our environment shapes who we are as individuals. Traditionally, people think of their environment as their living situation - whether or not they were born into an area that was wealthy or low-income. But your environment spans well past physical surroundings. It includes the people, the vibes, the societal beliefs, the upbringing, etc. Because we don't always consider these additional pieces, we don't realize the amount of influence it has on us, and our paths moving forward in life. So let's talk about it - how does our environment shape who we are as people, and what does that mean for us? The post will be released soon!

A Time to Love and A Lifetime to Keep it Going

We talk about self-love all the time but don't really understand what it truly means. If we did, we wouldn't take it so lightly and would give it the respect it warrants. To love oneself, honestly, wholeheartedly and unconditionally sets the tone for the rest of your life. It will determine the type of people you surround yourself with, how you interact with them, how much of yourself you share with them, the authenticity of the relationships you make, and how you carry yourself. This means your love for yourself or lack thereof dictates your future; so you should treat it as such. Because if you don't love yourself, it can and will manifest in different areas of your life in a negative way.

Change Now, Reap Later

“New year, new me,” but you’re still doing the same things from 2018. “I’m starting the business this year,” but you’re still hanging around your demotivated friends. “Oh, I am definitely going to start this diet,” but you’re still hitting McDonalds for that 2 for $5 Fish Filet. “I’m over them and won’t give them another chance,” but you’re still sending them “wyd” texts when you get lonely. “I won’t cheat on you again,” but you’re still responding to those late night “you up?” texts and still answering DMs on social media. “I’m going to value myself and my body,” but you’re still posting thirst traps.” “I’m going to change Lord,” but you’re still living the same life as non-believers. “God, I’m going to follow your plan and go where you lead me,” but you’re still trying to make your own dreams happen.

The Company You Keep

We all have people in our lives that we hold close to our hearts. We call some of them friends, some of them besties, and some we even call family. Eventually, these individuals begin fulfilling some role(s) in our lives- going out with us, tagging along on trips, imparting wisdom when needed, accompanying us to whack events, etc. Regardless of the reason, these are people we have chosen to keep around. We are so used to them that we probably don’t notice how they could be influencing our own lives. It’s crazy to think, right? They already accepted us for who we are; so why would we try to change ourselves? That’s just it; we don’t- at least, not intentionally. We may not realize it but their presence alone does more than we give it credit.

"Just Let Me Be Great!"

"You need to have a plan!" "You have to plan ahead or things won't work out." "If things don't pan out exactly as you plan, you won't be successful." Do some of these phrases sound familiar, especially to recent graduates? Whether it be from a parent, professor, mentor, or even a friend, we find ourselves always being pressured by others to plan out our entire lives in order for things to turn out the best way possible. In society, it is ingrained in so many minds that you need to know everything right now if you want to succeed in life. But how do they know that? Can they tell the future? Does planning everything out have a 100% success rate (if you could even measure that)? No one knows but the Man upstairs, so it's not the best choice to try and convince someone to follow footsteps that may have worked for you because things don't work out the same for everybody. What may work for someone else may not work for others. It's good to have an idea at least of what you want to do, or something you are either really passionate about or enjoy, so that you can steer yourself in the right direction to be successful. So what are we to do to prepare for the future?

Have We Overcome Our Pasts, or are We Reliving History?

We all have things in our past that have affected our lives in some kind of way. Whether it was starting a relationship, making a new friend, taking on a tough class, committing to attend a school, leaving home, or whatever it may have been, the actions in the past have had some impact on ourselves or those around us. We've lived and we've learned; we've made good decisions and bad choices; we learned from the mistakes we made in the past and have continued on with our lives. Overall, these things are what helped shape who we are today. But have we really learned from the past?