Staying True
Once upon a time, far far away. I was this lady who was so easily affected by things, people and situations. It seemed like I lived for public opinion. I'm sure some of us have had that experience at one point or the other in our lives. For me, It got so that my emotions, perception and choices were subject to other people's opinions and behavior.
At the time, you don't know how toxic such dependency can be untill something happens that opens your eyes and gets you to confront the ugly truth. My first major hit happened in high school when there was a particular nasty rumor that had made the rounds about me during my junior secondary. Nope! I'm not telling you the rumor. Suffice it to say, it was bad enough that even my friends at the time stayed clear of me. Nobody wanted to associate with me anymore, I became a pariah. When this happened, I found myself seeking and receiving solace from someone who has come to be one of my best friends.
This experience was the first and it had me confronting the question, "Who am I?"
First, I answered that question by making a decision to never again subject myself to popular opinion. I didn't know it then but that was my first step to freedom. Anyway, I soon got really good at being nonchalant about what other people thought of me.
You could poke all you wanted and not get a rise from me. As I stopped holding myself up to the standards of others, I begun to explore my own values, who I wanted to be and what I wanted to be known for. You could say this allowed me begin the journey of self discovery. Of course at some point in life I had to be careful not to be too nonchalant about things that actually mattered or people.
As I grew into who I am, I realized that one thing that made me a person I admired, and still admire, was staying true to an image I wanted replicated and reflected in me. This image requires that you do something a dear friend once told me back in high school during a break up. She said, " People can only hurt you to the extent you allow them to." It means that to remain true to who you are or to whom you hope to be, you have to gain control by first taking back the control others have over you, especially those who don't matter. It requires that you free yourself by taking back the power you gave others to hurt you. Like a druglord trying to regain his territory, it's a battle and winner takes it all. This implies that you stay true to who you are or hope to be regardless of people's contradictory opinions and actions, regardless of situations or behaviors that contradict or are in conflict with who you are.
To answer the question I had asked myself earlier, I had to stay consistent and true to who I truly am and hope to be. I am a being incapable of hate, bitterness and incapable of staying in anger. I am caring, kind, forgiving and capable of letting go of hurt. I chose to be this person not because the world is or that the environment I am in makes it easy for me but because it is who I am and who I hope to keep on being.
The world's system says it's okay to hate when you're being hated, it's okay to not forgive when the other hasn't forgiven or apologized for hurting you. The world says It's okay to stay in anger because the other person is doing the exact same thing. I'll tell you this, if you live your life dependent on this notion, believe then you will never know what true freedom taste like. You'll never know who you truly are or could ever hope to be. Your life will always be subject to another's control, another hold and exertions.You will never really be truly free.
There's a passage of the Bible that says, "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." You will know the truth of who you are and that truth will set you free from being enslaved by your environment, your situation and even people's opinions and bad bad behaviors.
I haven't mastered this yet but daily I strive to stay true to my nature, I chose to stay consistent to who I am and hope to be, a being of love in all it's ramifications even when my environment depicts otherwise.
I want to remind you that you are beautiful, you are loving, you are kind, you are capable of letting go and walking in forgiveness, you are capable of seeing the good in people. You are this person not because the world makes it easy for you to be you but because this is your nature and you choose to stay consistent and true to that nature no matter what. Isn't it absolutely amazing that no more do we have to live in subjection to the whims of others, our environment and negative situations but to our very own self? Isn't it so freeing that you now have the power to react in the way that you choose, in the way you decide to behave. Isn't it so liberating?
Today I implore you, let your light continue to shine forth from within and let the darkness be unable to comprehend it.
Like an Eagle in flight, you are the king of your world and you are Unstoppable!
Make the decision today to Stay True to who you really are no matter what!
LIGHT, BE!
Once upon a time, far far away. I was this lady who was so easily affected by things, people and situations. It seemed like I lived for public opinion. I'm sure some of us have had that experience at one point or the other in our lives. For me, It got so that my emotions, perception and choices were subject to other people's opinions and behavior.
At the time, you don't know how toxic such dependency can be untill something happens that opens your eyes and gets you to confront the ugly truth. My first major hit happened in high school when there was a particular nasty rumor that had made the rounds about me during my junior secondary. Nope! I'm not telling you the rumor. Suffice it to say, it was bad enough that even my friends at the time stayed clear of me. Nobody wanted to associate with me anymore, I became a pariah. When this happened, I found myself seeking and receiving solace from someone who has come to be one of my best friends.
This experience was the first and it had me confronting the question, "Who am I?"
First, I answered that question by making a decision to never again subject myself to popular opinion. I didn't know it then but that was my first step to freedom. Anyway, I soon got really good at being nonchalant about what other people thought of me.
You could poke all you wanted and not get a rise from me. As I stopped holding myself up to the standards of others, I begun to explore my own values, who I wanted to be and what I wanted to be known for. You could say this allowed me begin the journey of self discovery. Of course at some point in life I had to be careful not to be too nonchalant about things that actually mattered or people.
As I grew into who I am, I realized that one thing that made me a person I admired, and still admire, was staying true to an image I wanted replicated and reflected in me. This image requires that you do something a dear friend once told me back in high school during a break up. She said, " People can only hurt you to the extent you allow them to." It means that to remain true to who you are or to whom you hope to be, you have to gain control by first taking back the control others have over you, especially those who don't matter. It requires that you free yourself by taking back the power you gave others to hurt you. Like a druglord trying to regain his territory, it's a battle and winner takes it all. This implies that you stay true to who you are or hope to be regardless of people's contradictory opinions and actions, regardless of situations or behaviors that contradict or are in conflict with who you are.
To answer the question I had asked myself earlier, I had to stay consistent and true to who I truly am and hope to be. I am a being incapable of hate, bitterness and incapable of staying in anger. I am caring, kind, forgiving and capable of letting go of hurt. I chose to be this person not because the world is or that the environment I am in makes it easy for me but because it is who I am and who I hope to keep on being.
The world's system says it's okay to hate when you're being hated, it's okay to not forgive when the other hasn't forgiven or apologized for hurting you. The world says It's okay to stay in anger because the other person is doing the exact same thing. I'll tell you this, if you live your life dependent on this notion, believe then you will never know what true freedom taste like. You'll never know who you truly are or could ever hope to be. Your life will always be subject to another's control, another hold and exertions.You will never really be truly free.
There's a passage of the Bible that says, "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." You will know the truth of who you are and that truth will set you free from being enslaved by your environment, your situation and even people's opinions and bad bad behaviors.
I haven't mastered this yet but daily I strive to stay true to my nature, I chose to stay consistent to who I am and hope to be, a being of love in all it's ramifications even when my environment depicts otherwise.
I want to remind you that you are beautiful, you are loving, you are kind, you are capable of letting go and walking in forgiveness, you are capable of seeing the good in people. You are this person not because the world makes it easy for you to be you but because this is your nature and you choose to stay consistent and true to that nature no matter what. Isn't it absolutely amazing that no more do we have to live in subjection to the whims of others, our environment and negative situations but to our very own self? Isn't it so freeing that you now have the power to react in the way that you choose, in the way you decide to behave. Isn't it so liberating?
Today I implore you, let your light continue to shine forth from within and let the darkness be unable to comprehend it.
Like an Eagle in flight, you are the king of your world and you are Unstoppable!
Make the decision today to Stay True to who you really are no matter what!
LIGHT, BE!