So, you know how one thought leads to another thought which leads to another and so on and so forth right?
LIVING EXISTING
Lately, I have been thinking about living. Yes living. Most of us are just here. We are JUST existing. We wake up every day with a heart that beats involuntarily. Meaning without ANY effort from us. As long as we have vitals we are technically considered to be alive. Well, I don’t like technical. For me, living requires intent. It requires deliberate effort. It means waking up and deciding that you will take as much control over your life as you are able to do. So much is outside of our control, but for all that is left, we have to take the opportunity to seize. Seize the moments that turn into days that turn into weeks, months, years and ultimately a very short lifetime.
FEAR
What holds us back from truly living? What holds us back from our happiness? The answer is fear. We fear uncertain outcomes. We fear pain, struggle, lost and a host of other anxieties. We fear failure. One of the worst fears that we have all (at some point of time) fallen victim to, are the thoughts and opinions of others. Others that are out there (as far as we know) living their best lives. Some times those “other people” are more miserable than we have ever been and would love to keep good company. Yeah, I’m talking about the people that are in our ears the most soliciting advice. They don’t always have our best interest in mind and often times they are speaking from a very fearful place themselves. All of these fears become paralyzing agents in our lives. They hold us in this state of “existing” and rob us from living. When we remove fear from our lives, we welcome positivity and even greater opportunities than we ever knew existed. Our lives are ours to live and we have to start taking ownership and control.
FREEDOM
Miss Nina Simone described freedom as having no fear. In the absence of fear we can truly began to live. There was a quote that I read years ago that went something along these lines: If you fear falling, you will never learn to fly. Baby, it is time for you to spread your wings, jump and find flight.
*** I remember being a little girl and running across pavement, cement, down a steep hill or any ground my mom saw as unsafe. I remember not always heeding her warnings. “Ebony, you better stop running or you’ll mess around, fall and hurt yourself!” Guess what? I still ran. Guess what else? I also fell and hurt myself. I wasn’t afraid. I was more interested in playing. I was more interested in chasing that ball or winning that race. I was too busy living in a place where fear did not exist. Guess what she failed to mention? I’d heal.***
I AM EBONY 