A Year Older, and a Year Wiser
I have learned a lot over the past year. and I just wanted to make a post about what I’ve learned since my last birthday. This won’t be a long post, but I am going to do this every year, so that I, and anyone who reads this, can track my personal growth.
Your dreams are God’s way of letting you know you’re on the right path, and I would know, because I had dreams of doing both of the major things I did this year: started my website, and started our podcast. God did not give me specific instructions on HOW to start these platforms, but He told me that I needed to do these things, so I went and did the work necessary to start them both. Understand that while God is always with you, that does not mean that he is going to do all of the work for you. You have to be willing to put in the work, and allow God to guide your steps during the journey
I am no longer afraid of putting my work out there for critique. I used to be nervous about others seeing the work that I’m doing, and having an opinion on it, but I have learned that opinions are going to come, no matter what. There are people who are going to support you no matter what, even if your content is subpar, and there are those who will not support what you are doing, no matter how well you’re doing, or how good the product is. You, like me, have to learn to not care about the criticism that comes with putting something new out for the world to consume, because criticism is inevitable. Just do it, and focus on the love that comes with your exploits, and allow that to drive you..
There are many people who do not understand how prejudice, oppression, and racism affect our people, and think that because someone helps them with money, they can overlook all of the other wrongs that they inflict on their lives. Racists are more prominent in today’s society, emboldened by the climate that suggests that they don’t have to hide their feelings for people of a different color, instead of allowing their hatred to play out in more covert ways. Black people are dying at the hands of people who volunteered to protect them, and people want to try and shift the focus to what is happening in our own communities, as if they are similar. There are not. Saying Black Lives Matter is trying to be misconstrued by those who don’t want black people lives to matter, instead countering with All Lives Matter or Blue Lives Matter, both of which clearly miss the point. There is still much work to be done in terms of equality, racial competence, and understanding. And let’s stop with all the Obama slander in an effort to boost Trump. He hasn’t done as much as his supporters say he has, and Obama did more than people give him credit for.