It's Not About Them

I got up this morning with no intention to write. I had been sick over the past weekend and after staying in bed for two days, I finally decided to get up and shower. With all of this new found energy, I decided to do something that I have been wanting to do for a while now. I decided to write. I wrote an article a few months back but haven't had the itch to write since then that is until today.

The bug that made my skin crawl was the thought of people feeling entitled to my life. I recently finished my Psychology Degree and that was a feat in itself. I have always hated school because in my opinion, it was a waste of time and I felt I had better things to do than write papers about things I did not care about. Well anyway, I finished my degree and even with that accomplishment, all I could think and feel was that I was a failure at life. Of course, this feeling of doom came about because I was too concerned with how people saw me.

In my mind, people viewed me as too fat, too loud, too mean, or too unmotivated. Well, I am overweight, I can be loud, what people perceive as mean is really indifference, and I can be unmotivated but who isn't at times. As I began to feel down about myself something dawned on me. "IT'S NOT ABOUT THEM!!!" This is my life, and I am on my own journey. The truth is no matter what you do or don't do someone is always going to have something to say. Someone is going to give their two cents either to your face or behind your back. You will never be good enough to some people, especially to the people that knew you when you were in the midst of a struggle. Heck, even Jesus had to deal with these type of folk. In Mark 6:4 Jesus said: "A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home." The people that knew Jesus before he started his ministry cast aside who Jesus was at that moment. They just saw him as the run of the mill carpenter's kid. Their mentality was that Jesus was nothing. You know what Jesus did? He went about his business because it was not about them. If they weren't going to acknowledge who he was he moved on to people that would, and those that doubted him ended up missing out on their opportunities.

Now, I am not saying I am Jesus, but this story gives me hope. There are people that are around me that have no faith in me whatsoever and no matter what I accomplish they will never have faith in me. Well, that is okay, because "IT'S NOT ABOUT THEM!" This my life and my journey. These are my struggles, achievements, setbacks, and victories! They belong to me and it has nothing to do with them!

Now here is some encouragement! People are rooting for you to fail. They will criticize the amount of time it takes for you to accomplish a goal that you set and no matter what you accomplish those same people find something else to hate on you for. Well, Dear Reader, IT IS NOT ABOUT THEM! It's your life and your journey and you don't owe anyone an explanation. If it takes you five years to accomplish a goal, that is okay. If you hit a wall and are having a hard time, that is okay. As long as you are honest with yourself and keep moving forward you are going in the right direction. THIS IS YOUR LIFE AND YOUR JOURNEY. IT IS NOT ABOUT THEM and next time someone decides to give you their two cents when you did not ask for them, please tell them to go take several seats!

NOT ABOUT THEM. YOUR LIFE. YOUR JOURNEY.