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Nothing is certain, nor is anything forever,
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All we have is the present, while the only true constant is change.
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Now is the perfect time, to live, love, laugh and to remember,
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You are designed perfectly for what you are destined for.
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So seek what you desire openly and let everything unfold.
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Choose to Rise up, stand to face the challenges, because they mold you into who you are meant to be.
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And live life every day like it is supposed to be.
GROWTH
November 21st, 2018
Change is Inevitable
Nothing lasts forever, everything ebbs and flows like the tides in a constant state of change.
We must learn to live in the moment and enjoy the present, each and every day of our journey while continuing to grow and accept change with open arms. Each chapter or phase will be different than the last as you evolve and grow.
As the Ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus stated:
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”
Change can be uncomfortable and often painful but is necessary and truly inevitable.
Your Own Worst Enemy?
October 14th, 2018
Take a look in the mirror and recognize that you are truly your own best friend or your own worst enemy, that’s right…until you recognize your subconscious beliefs and the immense power your subconscious mind has over your behavior, you will be stuck in the same cycle of behavior, choices and lifestyle.
Even though your gut and heart provide feedback that help you in decision making as mentioned in previous articles, your subconscious directs nearly everything you do as your brain is the ultimate processing center that actually has the ability to affect the body on a cellular level.
You can in fact, affect your biology as the environment can turn on and turn off different genes and it mostly comes down to one’s perception. In addition to this, science has proven that everything operates on a sub-atomic, vibrational level that operates purely on energy, therefore; one’s mindset affects vibrational frequency which actually does attract certain things into your life. We must understand the driving force of our subconscious and then strive to master our mind through having control of the conscious.
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” -C.G Yung
Neuroscientists have found that the conscious mind operates at only 5% activity while the subconscious accounts for 95% of our behavior on autopilot, subconsciously making decisions for you based on how you were programmed the first 7 years of your life in your environment, along with epigenetics.
According to Dr. Bruce Lipton, “ The unconscious mind operates at 40 million bits of data per second, while conscious mind has a processing power of 40 bits per second.”
In my personal experiences I can absolutely attest to these facts through repeated exposure as I would constantly get pulled right back in to my default settings each time I would try to venture out of my set “programming”.
In my mid twenties I began to see repeated trends and patterns throughout my life that I could not deny, and it began to become apparent that I needed to look within. Upon spending much time asking questions and striving to understand reasons for certain behaviors and beliefs, I found different sets of beliefs that I had that stemmed from different experiences early on in my life.
- I would always seem to scrape by financially, regardless of how much I worked and how careful I was about spending because I had negative ideas of money and didn't feel I was capable of making more.
-I would avoid doing effective tasks within career roles that would have allowed me to become successful within those paths because I was afraid of my own success and did not feel deserving yet.
-I was avoidant of lucrative careers because I feared the involvement would infringe upon my freedoms.
-On a subconscious level I did not believe in myself or my abilities to be capable or effective in industries other than the restaurant industry and would always defaulted back to restaurants after barely scratching the surface in another industry.
-I was afraid of getting close to others, because I did not want others to take advantage of my extremely empathetic nature.
-I had ideas of success and what I wanted , but I felt I should be further ahead along that timeline than I was, leading to frustration and bouts of anxiety and depression as I lived mostly in the future rather than living in the present and enjoying the journey.
The truth is, we all have certain subconscious beliefs that direct our lives and whether good or bad it is necessary to understand them. We must spend time in self discovery, beginning a journey to better understand and love ourselves.
The more you become self aware, the more you learn to love your inherently good qualities, while also understanding certain qualities that may be holding you back, along with the associated, underlying subconscious beliefs. We also become aware of our self actualization as we find what intent we have in our hearts, our unique gifts and what we desire, allowing us to see the potential as we discover our purpose and find meaning in our lives.
Upon recognizing these subconscious blocks you can work to change your underlying beliefs by first understanding exactly why you have these beliefs and then working to change them through affirmations. Affirmations with holding the associated imagery in your mind repeatedly will break the associated programming.
In conclusion, start with the following:
1.) Start with believing in yourself and accepting that you are exactly where you need to be right now at this point in your life.
2.) Focus on living in the present and enjoying the little things, strive for balance and appreciate loved ones in your life, new experiences and striving to give back to others. Learn to Enjoy your unique path and journey.
3.) Begin your journey of self discovery and spend time alone, close your eyes and think about your good and bad qualities and why you feel you have them, the experiences that have made you who you are.
4.) Recognize the good, learn to love yourself and your uniqueness, beginning to find the desires you have in your heart, your passions and purpose…meaning in your life. However, understanding it is a journey and you must love each step of the way, day by day.
5.) Examining the qualities that lead to your behaviors that you feel may be holding you back, those subconscious beliefs you want to break. Write them down to understand them, then write down your new beliefs. Read and picture the meaning of your new beliefs everyday until it becomes a true belief and you begin to feel the difference in yourself.
“One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery over oneself.” -Leonardo De Vinci
Shed the light within, the necessity of self discovery early in life.
Aug 5, 2018
Often we go through life not truly knowing who we are on a fundamental level, as it is not taught in school, nor encouraged elsewhere in society.
Without self discovery and a deeper understanding of who we are, we lack the foundation for decision making and for overall behavior to external circumstances, because we act in accordance with who we feel we are and will often lack the chosen principles and values.
Therefore, if we don’t know who we are, we have a harder time making decisions and reacting to various situations.
“Self-knowledge is the great power by which we comprehend and control our lives.” — Albert Einstein
Without self awareness and self knowledge, often we don’t quite know what we truly desire in life or even what to look for in a romantic partner..It is more difficult to listen to your heart and find your unique path.
Like a ship leaving port without a destination and left to be at the mercy of the currents and winds, we may end up coasting through life and end up living a life that doesn't feel true to ourselves..
We then may wind up living lives that don’t quite feel true to ourselves as we are more at the mercy of circumstances and will search externally for validation, happiness and fulfillment.
Self discovery, self awareness, and self knowledge are a part of your journey that will change throughout life but they will be the foundation in which everything in your life is based on.
Though your journey will never end throughout your life, It is crucial to begin your journey of self discovery early in life to give you initial direction, which will then increase your self awareness and guide you throughout each new chapter of your life. You’ll be more self aware within each new stage and each new area of growth, better able to assess internal changes to adapt and cope with external situations, along with the hardships of life. You will be more guided, and less prone to explore areas completely outside of your passions and interests, or against principles and values, allowing more focus and true direction in working towards your dreams and living the lifestyle of your dreams.
Despite being an entrepreneur my path began as a conventional one with school and beginning college, though it never felt true to me. I spent years searching externally, trying my hand in nearly every industry trying to find my path before realizing I simply had to look within.
Discovering who you are on a fundamental level is crucial as it allows you to live a life true to yourself. Knowing yourself on this level makes you more perceptive to what your heart is telling you, allowing you to pursue your dreams and reach your greatest level of contribution to the world.
While what you truly believe about yourself determines who you become, while the education and self development will then be the vehicle to take you there.
Simply look within and commit to beginning your journey, loving your journey and the individual characteristics that make you , You.
Never stop growing and never stop learning.
Your heart and body knows more than you Think…
We try to be “rational” human beings and often ignore gut feelings or what our heart is actually telling us, yet the brain is often simply the processing center from what the rest of the body is striving to tell it.
In my experience in the past I have ignored my heart and tried to make decisions based off of rationality and how they seem ( good job offers , opportunities, etc…), and they would inevitably lead me to negative feelings and being in a position where things just didnt feel right. The more I have tried, the more this constantly would be reinforced, each and every time in a direct correlation. Ultimately, this lead me to truly believe that your heart knows what is best in regards to direction and your body actually provides much more feedback than previously known.
Lets take a step back for a minute before proceeding and look at the nervous system. We perceive and react to the environment both externally and internally while information is delivered through different types of neurons that provide feedback to the brain. With that being said, science has begun to recognize in recent years that the heart and gut actually Communicate to the body and the brain in various ways with important feedback that can and should be used in decision making.
Lets start with the heart, often called “ the little brain” because it actually has 40,000 sensory neurons that relay information to the brain through hormones, nervous system connections, electrical activity and more. There is more information being sent to the brain on a daily bases than what the brain sends to the heart! The electrical field in the heart measured in amplitude is found to be 60 times greater than that of the brain while the electromagnetic field of the heart is 5,000 times more powerful than that of the brain!
In the book : “Into The Magic Shop” by James R. Doty, he states:
“When our brains and our hearts are working in collaboration — we are happier, we are healthier, and we automatically express love, kindness, and care for one another,” he writes. “I knew this intuitively, but I needed to validate it scientifically. — by James R. Doty
Now for the Gut! Recent studies and much research from Dr. Chopra, an neuroendocrinologist found that the gut is actually its own nervous system that offers vast communication to the rest of the body!
Scientifically this is known as the enteric nervous system or second brain, as it consists of about 100 million neurons in our gut or alimentary canal and it is equipped with its own set of senses and reflexes. Even though Serotonin is a brain neurotransmitter, it has been found that about 90% of the body’s Serotonin is made from gut bacteria, therefore effecting mental processes and mood.
“If you say ‘I have a gut feeling about such and such’ you’re not speaking metaphorically, you’re speaking literally. Your gut makes the same chemicals that your brain makes when it thinks.” -Dr. Chopra
I strongly feel that when we focus on becoming more self aware of what our hearts and gut are telling us on a daily basis, we tend to make better decisions for ourselves overall, decisions that are more in alignment with who we are as individuals and the directions we want to go.
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Dec 10th, 2018
You Don’t Have To Feel Alone In Your Uniqueness.
Read this if you feel alone and like you’ve never truly been understood. You are the way you are for a reason, though you may not understand why right now. Here is a little more about my story which you may relate to:
I was the strangest little kid ever….
The world felt overwhelming, there was just too much going on and I seemed to feel it all, simply too much external and internal stimulus that I didn’t know how to process.
Such a creative and happy child yet I would wake up feeling a wide range of things that didn’t seem my own. I never wanted to go to kindergarten and my favorite way of passing time was exploring the backyard for hours at a time just playing with rocks and being in nature. Now, the backyard wasn’t very big, and so there wasn’t much to explore…. I was one weird little child.
As I got older, I assumed everyone was the same as me, yet I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t to fit in. Always the odd one out, I would force myself to have the normal highschool experience, yet couldn’t stand to be at parties for longer than 20 minutes and would always make excuses to escape.
I began to try to suppress these feelings which made me even more introverted and I soon found myself doing nearly everything on my own. I just didn’t feel anyone understood me and began to embrace being a loner at heart.
I was never a good student and despite being a great reader and good writer, I found myself in an hour long learning disabilities class throughout my entire elementary and middle school years. Despite countless of hours of math tutoring, I still shouldn’t have passed a couple certain math classes and actually shouldn’t have even graduated highschool because I was so far behind in the subject. Though I felt intelligent, the educational system, never made me feel that way.
I always had this intent in my heart, this burning desire for something yet I didn’t know how to fulfill this and I began to use working out as my outlet for this. Training as if my life depended on it, this was the only thing that seemed to offer some sort of quantifiable progress.
I began to try my hand in various jobs, working in every industry imaginable yet I could not find the right fit. Nothing seemed to feel right for me and I had a hard time simply working full time as it seemed to drain me much more than my peers. Those close to me would question why I couldn’t simply focus on work, yet my mind was always all over the place with an influx of ideas and processing, multitasking… daily life was exhausting in itself, let alone throwing more into the mix.
After I began to learn I was more intuitive in nature which explained much, while also realizing that my heart was along an entrepreneurial path. I dropped out of college to pursue my first venture and after going through many obstacles, the venture was eventually forced to be put aside. The company set me back financially and I soon found myself at my brothers place, living on a big brown couch with a sinkhole on one side, calling it my home. Working part time at a restaurant and spending much time in my room in self reflection and discovery, I began to learn how to listen to my heart and things began to unfold. Idea after idea, I soon had an empire in my mind, a mess of ideas floating around like clouds above me….a blessing and a curse as it was so overwhelming that it felt paralyzing from the weight of indecision.
Not knowing where to start or what to do, not having any guidance, or direction and with society still telling me to go back to school, to learn an employable skill, constantly directly or indirectly implying that I was on the wrong path.
This went on for a couple years and I was grateful for an occasional mentor whom would provide crucial insight and help to get my mind right, however; it was a couple lonely, frustrating years.. As I tried to sort through this jumble of ideas and try to organize it all and get it on paper. Eventually, I was able to file them all away and realized I could create a personal brand as a platform to share the long journey in launching each one…But my path was far from clear.
I began with the first venture, yet as I made slow progress, I would see my friends and fellow young adults getting started in their careers.
The next couple of years were simply spent working in a restaurant while focusing on refinement and getting more clarity as I struggled to develop the first venture that had the least amount of overhead and liability, and seemed to make the most sense.
I was now in my late twenties and though life was much different, living in a different state and having experiences traveling, I was still scraping by financially while struggling to truly figure out my crazy reality.
I would see my friends and other individuals becoming very successful in their careers and starting families, and I was truly happy for them, though I couldn’t help but compare. I would feel confused, behind and would doubt my path as I compared mine to everyone else’s.
Comparing myself to others would make me feel insufficient, as if I should be more ahead in a career and actually have money saved and be more stable. I would feel frustrated and depressed, the result of having stopped believing in myself.
When you stop believing in yourself and what you’re capable of, you begin to settle and lose motivation.
The next couple years were especially tough as I worked much in those different industries while spending much of my free time being a hermit trying to filter through the internal chaos. I lost much contact with certain friends as they didn’t quite understand my struggles and may have perceived them differently.
However, years later at my wise age of 30, I am grateful to be on track and about to launch my first venture with everything feeling right. I have Finally learned a balance true to myself and am working on maintaining this and focusing more on relationships with loved ones.
I have accepted my true path, though many friends and family close to me still do not understand my path or see the light at the end of the tunnel, which is fine. Your vision is YOUR vision and you cannot expect others to understand or believe in YOUR dreams, but rather you must develop a fortitude and unwavering belief in the direction you are going.
I will launch my first venture by the new year, which will begin to provide traction for my brand and allow speaking opportunities along with resources while freeing up my time to focus on launching my next two online ventures. These three online businesses will provide the base of my personal brand which will allow me to focus on the larger ones consecutively. It is inevitable and one day that jumble of a mess, the idea empire that was once a series of clouds looming above me will be a reality…mark my words.
The more I create, and stay true to myself, the more I can ultimately help others.
As for you, you must remember that the only limits that exist are the ones that you set on yourself. You must break down any self imposed limitations and simply begin believing in yourself.
I am here to tell you, your path is vastly different from anyones in more ways than you know and you cannot accurately compare yours to any individuals.
You must known your WHY and You cannot define your self worth by how much money you make, how much you have saved, nor any society standards.
You truly must begin or continue your journey of self discovery in order to better listen to your heart, and though it isn’t easy by any means…it is a necessary for your happiness and fulfillment to live a life true to yourself.
You cannot feel obligated to anyone but must do what makes you happy and fulfilled. Life is too short and you must work towards becoming the man or woman you want to be and create the lifestyle of your dreams while maintaining relationships with your loved ones, living in the moment along the way.
Each individual is so vastly different, being unique in there own special ways and we must realize that we will never truly understand every single individual we come across and we must learn to appreciate these innate differences between each other.
What is your story?
30 Lessons in 30 Years
August 5th , 2018
With my recent 30th birthday, here’s a list of 30 lessons I’ve come up with in 30 years to share and also remind myself.
•1.) Take time to discover who you are on a fundamental level because without knowing who you are you don’t truly know what you want. “Self knowledge is the great power by which we comprehend and control our lives.” -Albert Einstein-
•2.) The meaning of life is to discover your purpose and strive towards your highest level of contribution to the world, living in the present and enjoying each step of your journey; finding meaning in your life.-
•3.) Value relationships and their different dimensions, not only appreciating loved ones but also value the interaction with the people you comes across from day to day, from your local barista to someone you walk with to cross the street.-
•4.) Strive to serve others, when you stop trying to get what you can and shift to a mentality that seeks to serve others in every interaction, it comes full circle and the entire world is a better place.-
•5.) Be Humble, You can truly learn from anyone at anytime.-
•6.) Be Grateful, Nothing is guaranteed and we must appreciate everything. Being grateful also puts us in a better mind state and leaves us happier.-
•7.) Money doesn’t equal happiness, while it can take away problems if you don’t have it- once basic needs are met there is no correlation between income and happiness/fulfillment whatsoever. Our definition of success as a society should be redefined.-
•8.) Adapting is constant. Life flows, just like nature. The better at adapting one can be, the easier life will be and the faster one will grow.-
•9.) True success is discovering your purpose, striving to become the best version of yourself while pursuing your passion and living a happy and fulfilled life, not monetary gain.-
•10.) Determine your values and principles, without them there is no basis in decision making.-
•11.) Your past has nothing to do with your future. Yes you may have the same mindset or same circumstances, but every day is a new opportunity to work towards change or advancement.-
•12.)Patience, life doesn’t work like a fast food restaurant or amazon prime….everything takes time.-
•13.)Nothing good comes easy and if it does you will not appreciate it. There truly is value in hard work and the journey in working towards achieving everything you want.-
•14.) Stop waiting for perfect. Life is too short, don’t procrastinate, dont make excuses, just follow Nike’s slogan and just do it.-
•15.) Stop living in fear, it’s a daily battle but once you can make the shift your worries will go away and you’ll be much more at peace.-
•16.) Be open minded, as long as something does not cross your moral values or principles, be open to at least examining ideas and opportunities.-
•17.) Always listen to advice but make your own choices, others can provide insight but use it for greater understanding and follow your heart.-
•18.) Follow your heart. There are 40,000 sensory neurons relaying information to the brain from the heart, it never steers you wrong once you learn to listen to it.-
•19.) Systemize. Once you learn how to organize your life and systemize things that can be automated such as paying bills, etc… you can gain much more freedom and time from within structure.-
•20.) Travel often. Traveling allows you to recharge and grow exponentially as you meet all kinds of people and gain different perspectives.-
•21.) Begin exercising on a regular basis, it’s a keystone habit which leads to other healthy habits and lifestyle change.-
•22.) Learn how to live a healthy lifestyle , how to exercise properly and eat right as it directly leads to better quality of life and longevity.-
•23.) Take Pride in whatever you do and do it 100%, you get much more out of whatever you’re doing and it will bring other opportunities.-
•24.) Read at least one hour a day, taking time to always improve yourself and continually learn.-
•25.) Invest! Begin investments as soon as you can and take advantage of compound interest.” When asked to name the greatest invention in human history, Albert Einstein simply replied “compound interest.”-
•26.) Don’t hold on to the past, try to take the lessons you can from it , forgive and move on.-
•27.) Give back, it is a major part of feeling happy and fulfilled and simply makes the world a better place.-
•28.) Love, plain and simple, treat others with kindness and truly look out for their best interest.-
•29.) Don’t forget enjoy the little things in life, new experiences such as trying a new food or watching a beautiful sunset.-
30.) Change is Growth. When you get comfortable you stop growing, plain and simple-
Balancing Roles and Waves of Productivity
August 15th , 2018
What I have found is that Inspiration and bouts of creativity seem to come in cycles, peaking with every aspect in one’s life as they all rise and fall in sync.
In a sense, this is the same balance we see around us every day, just as the sun cannot show its presence with the same intensity relentlessly all year in most parts of the world , nor can it rain nonstop.
One cannot produce at the same level constantly, as seasons come and go, fruits and flowers blossom and ripen before falling to the ground , so is life.
We must ride the waves and embrace them, taking advantage of both the ups and the downs in order to create the same level of balance comparable to the perfect system around us.
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I’ve finally learned to work in waves or blocks, taking advantage of the moments of inspiration while understanding not to force creativity and progress when the time is not right.
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In regards to balance, focus for me is not shutting everything else off to zero in on one project or idea but rather balanced focus, giving attention to what is required for a time to continue progress and then shifting to the next project and bringing it further a few steps.
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We all wear multiple hats and practice balanced focus in our lives since we all tend to juggle various roles such as a parental role while maintaining a certain lifestyle and social life.
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I feel the same applies in business, to give attention to one project at a time but let everything unfold organically and when progress temporarily ceases, attention can be shifted to the next, working in waves and balancing all lifestyle components.
It is important to focus on one task at a time, however; you can balance more than one project or role properly while working in waves. In regards to creative tasks it is crucial to be self aware and to create when you’re inspired, since you truly cannot force this. Of course you must have the discipline to hold yourself accountable, but you also must know when enough is enough.
Remember to work in waves unique to you, focus on the task at hand , yet maintain balance in your life and don't feel guilty for juggling more than one role or hat if necessary. Work a few hours, take a break and walk on the beach or have lunch with a loved one, before getting back to a creative task for a couple hours, don’t trade your health or wellbeing to check off a checklist.
June 1st, 2019
Walk with me. Our paths may take us different directions, but for now let’s enjoy the walk together.
I don’t expect you to understand my vision, and I may not truly understand yours. I do not know the exact path that I will take but I know what I want to create, and well…. just look at that sunset lol.
Its been an interesting journey that began early on when I realized school wasn’t for me. Growing up I would never consider myself a good student as I was even put in a learning disabilities class at Pine view, due to my challenges in math. Fun fact, my difficulty in the subject ensured that regardless of any amount of tutoring that I received, seemed to be a futile effort and I even barely graduated high school due to those challenges.
I never felt smart, because the school system
Graded us collectively despite our individuality, and differing inherent talents, and well….You simply cannot judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree while I was one of those fishes trying to climb a tree and it wasn’t a pretty sight.
It took me years to understand that each one of us is vastly different and that we each truy have our own gift, paths and timelines in which events will unfold.
In an effort to find my place in the world, I began a seemingly endless search for the right career fit. I worked in nearly every industry imaginable from valet parking, health insurance, financial services and multi-level marketing to various restaurants and in later years even found myself folding laundry as a personal assistant in Los Angeles, selling ladders and much more. ( these barely scratch the surface)
Within the earlier exploration I learned how to look within and discovered my passion for recognizing opportunities to create and bring value within different industries. Little did I know that an entrepreneurial path was not a very forgiving one and I was about to learn my first lesson. I soon dropped out of college to focus on my first venture, Nurishe Inc.
Shortly after taking this leap and overcoming many challenges, I soon found myself broke, in debt and calling my older brothers leather couch with a pothole on one side my home. ( it was really comfortable though )
“During our most difficult times, we often begin to find ourselves, and it truly was at rock bottom that I began to build a foundation true to myself.”
Years later, I picked up the pieces and began to learn how to take the influx of ideas and put them in a consecutive order within a personal brand that would allow me to share my journey as I would strive to launch each and every business idea.. The only thing I felt that I had were ideas so I had a habit of sharing them with whoever would listen, seeking validation.
Nobody seemed to understand and my ideas were rarely taken seriously…..and It was then I finally began to understand not to look for validation from others and expect them to believe in my vision, but rather to believe in them myself and ignore everyone telling me what I should and shouldn’t be doing- because everyone has an opinion of how you should live Your life..
Your Vision is your vision for a reason and you cannot have someone else tell you what path to take. It’s your life and only you truly Know when you learn to listen to your heart.
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The next challenge was feeling frustrated and that I should be further ahead than I currently was within a career. I couldn’t help but compare my path to others as my peers were all excelling in their careers and becoming very financially established or even starting families. Though I was truly happy and excited for them, I couldn’t help compare as I was still struggling to survive and put my life together at nearly 30 years old.
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Society had impressed upon me that I should be in a different position, though I began to realize that these expectations stemmed from the conventional mindset of collectively lumping us as one and it made me feel that I had to live life in in stages.
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Over time I finally began to realize that within our vast differences, our paths and timelines will be unique to us. You truly cannot compare apples to Oranges. Everyone’s path will be different and therefore, should be respected and not judged or compared.
There’s no better or worse, simple You doing you. You’re not them and they are not you, as long as you’re being true to yourself, you’re going to be happy and things will Unfold specifically for you ☝🏽
We need to remember that we don’t have to have it all figured out, it’s a process and that’s the beauty of life.
Stop criticizing yourself or having negative thoughts about where your are and where you think you should be. Take responsibility but recognize that you’re exactly where you need to be right now and how things unfold is entirely unique to you and up to you.
We must learn to live in the present and appreciate where we are as we enjoy each step of our journey. As long as we follow our hearts, remain true to ourselves, and value constant growth, we will remain on track to becoming the best versions of ourselves. Ultimately learning to utilize our individual gifts and and contributions to the world, providing a happy and fulfilled life.
Just Be You