Be Authentic
No-one can be you better than you!
Often times, we don’t realize how much we conform to the life other people planned for us. Often, we try to live out people’s perspectives and expectations of us. For example, there are many instances millennials went to undergraduate school to make their parents happy. There’s pressure in being the first in the family. There’s also years of pressure from society, drilling in the brains of young people that the only way to true success in life is a degree. Is it?
PJ Morton, one of my absolute favorite music artists said it best in his song Practicing;
“They always told me my ideas would never work
Go to college, get your degree so you could go to work
Yeah, 'cause you're gonna need a backup plan
Just in case anything happens
That's the only thing they understand
They don't think that you could do it if they never seen it done
So tell my dreamers, keep dreamin'
And if you got the master plan, keep schemin'
Gon' have some doubters, that's how it goes
But to be honest, nobody really knows
……………………………………………………
Everybody says, "Follow the rules," yeah
But what works for me might not work for you
Sometimes they're right and sometimes they're wrong
It just goes to show
We're just practicing, and no one really knows”
I am not anti-college at all! Please don’t misconstrue my thoughts. However, I believe there are multiple paths to success and life fulfillment. In actuality, nobody really knows what’s for you, except you and God. We have to stop letting others write the stories of our lives and live in the freedom of owning our truth.
What I absolutely love about my fellow millennials is the drive to push against and challenge the status quo. Millennials are out here creating opportunities and dream careers by simply being themselves.
BE AUTHENTIC! No-one can be YOU better than YOU!
So what’s stopping you? God didn’t plant seeds in you just for you to let it sit there. You have to water it, shine a little light on it and watch God work. We are often waiting on God to make a move when in actuality he’s waiting on us. Jesus used the art of metaphorical storytelling to convey deeper life lessons. Here is a great example! In The Parables of the Talents written in Matthew 25: 14-30, Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven like the story of a man who gave his servants talents according to his own ability. (Talents in this context is of monetary value) One man had five, another had two and the last was given one. The men with the multiple talents took what was given to them, invested in it and received returns! The man that was given only one had a negative outlook and decided to hide his talent. When it was time to give an account, the men who invested and received return were praised. The one who hid his was chastised.
As you sit back and reflect on your life, can you say that you’ve used what God has placed inside of you? Take the talents that were described in the bible and replace it with your dreams, gifts and purpose. Have you been letting it remain dormant? Don’t doubt yourself by aiming for perfection. A friend told me this years ago and I kept it as my life motto “Progression Over Perfection.”
Each and every one of us has an unique calling to contribute to this Earth. That calling equates to being a light in your own special way.
Take a shot and invest in yourself. You’re worth it!