My journey hasn’t been perfect, but it has been worth it.
If you could write a letter to your younger self, what advice would you give? If you could help your younger self avoid some of the pitfalls you experienced in love, relationships, educational pursuits, etc., what advice would you provide to help as a guide along the way? Hindsight is 20/20 if you look with the correct lens. It’s all about perspective.
As I began to write this blog, I was on a plane and there was an overcast with the appearance that rain was sure to follow right before we received clearance to take off. Eventually, the plane climbed in altitude above the clouds, and the sun was shining bright. When the plane changed positions, my viewpoint changed. When you decide to climb, and grow, you see your past and future through a different lens.
As you climb, you start letting go of things like relationships, mindsets and attitudes. Things I would accept in dating relationships in my 20s are now deal breakers for me in my 30s. You can look back and realize that some people you thought was Prince Charming was actually a counterfeit in disguise. I know it doesn’t happen in a day, but it can seem like one day you just wake up and say, “I know I can do better.”
In my 20s, I was still trying to figure out who I was and my place in life. At times, I never quite felt like I fit in. When you don’t feel like you fit in, you start conforming to the environment and people around you for acceptance and confirmation. I’ve learned that we can get so far away from the blueprint of who God has created us to be by conforming to the expectations of the environments we choose to live in. Over time, we encounter seasons where we wake up and the opportunity arises for us to take the journey back to the blueprint because we see that the identity and viewpoints we adopted were built on a lie. Anything built on a lie can’t stand and eventually crumbles.
As I look back over my 20s, I see a young woman with a lot of courage to follow God wholeheartedly, but still uncertain about where the journey would lead. I’m the youngest in my family and left home at 24 years old to come to Atlanta, GA. I packed my Chevy Malibu with everything I owned and drove to Atlanta with approximately $400 in my pocket. I jumped! I consider this leap of faith a turning point that started setting the trajectory of my life into purpose.
I experienced victory and at times failure. I loved and sometimes dealt with heartbreak. I started and finished some projects while some were left unfinished. I’ve seen loved ones I thought would be with me longer make their transition to heaven. Now that I’m in my 30s, I’m jumping again into another level of purpose for my life – I’m taking the lessons from my 20s and running forward into my destiny.
My journey hasn’t been perfect, but it has been worth it.
What advice would you give to your younger self?