The Mountain & the Valley

Hello wonderfulllllll readers.

This is a bit of an impulse post because I felt it in my heart to reach out and share some food for thought and a bit of insight with y'all..

As of lately, I have been going through YET ANOTHER a season of growth. Now, as I brought the new year in with a blog post, I stated that last year was my growth season and this was the year I would go from the transforming caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly, right? Well, though that very well may still happen this year, it was deemed necessary to undergo a bit more to get to that point in my life that I honestly was not quite ready for.

Most of you only know me from social media, or maybe even seeing me on campus or in public with friends. Those who do know me know that for my entire life I have always been one to mature early and not have many enemies (if any).. I was always the younger one in cliches of friends and always one to stay calm and think rationally in high stress situations that most others would freak out, who could practically make friends with anyone I wanted (because I mean, everyone loves me lol) (totally kidding).

Why am I saying all of this tho? Easy,

Growing up as the friend who acted more mature than her age, stayed out of drama, minding her business, focused on her goals and driven by her successes has gotten me so far in life, and though I've come far I somehow thought that meant I had endured enough to reap greatness in life and nothing less this year and so forth. I was wrong!

Life is a never ending process of growth. I have recently dealt with cutting off any negative energy in my life whether it be haters, envious females, negative nancies, stalkers (because JESUS THEY ARE OUT THERE) and pretty much anything I felt would hinder my growth. It became overwhelming because I was worrying too much as to why people couldn't see in me what I knew was in me. My compassion. My good heart. My work ethic. What I DESERVED for my acomplishments. Since then I have isolated myself to reinstate my spiritual wellbeing because quite frankly, worrying about who doesn't like you, who isn't there for you, what isn't working out for you, why you can't achieve something in the time frame you'd like is ALL going to deter you from the plan God has already set in stone. You cannot expect to have a perfect year or let alone a perfect life, ever. You CAN do everything in your power to make it as great as one possibly can, but through all of that you will endure growth that is either subconscious or purposed.. and that is what you should strive for.

Is growth comfortable? Hell nah. But if you're comfortable are you really growing?

I sit back some days and think about where I'll be in the coming years and not so much on what it will take to get to that point in my life, which is what you call d a y d r e a m i n g lol. My youth pastor and very close friend Sidney once spit a sermon I will never forget and have repeated to nearly all the friends that I have during a troublesome point in their lives and I will spit it to y'all: The mountain and the valley.

There are 2 types of people in this world. Some see the mountain, which is in the scheme of things a person's ULTIMATE GOAL in life, where all of the benefits and luxuries of your dreams reside. What they fail to see is the long and narrow valley that you must take to get to the mountain! On the other hand, others do in fact see that long and narrow valley. It can be cold, dark and filled with different obstacles along the way, though there are a few flowers and sunny patches of that long valley ahead; but many times these people are so stuck on what struggles they are going through that they completely lose sight of the big ole mountain at the end of it all.

So with this being said, I challenge everyone to take a step back from everything going on around you and focus on the mountain, while understanding that you MUST face the valley and truck through it to get to where you want to be in your life. Don't get stuck in the valley!!! But do not overlook it either. Embrace it. Focus on YOUR GROWTH.

But how, Dom?

Put your phone down. Do something for yourself for a weekend. Read a book. Get a journal. Go on a diet. Take a hike. Take a bubble bath. Meditate. Pray. Fast. WHATEVER. But focus on you. Worry about you. Love YOU. Forget the haters. Block some folks if you have to because I promise you the key to a happy life is not having to worry about being worried about. Ya feel me?

Furthermore, be a light in someone else's life. There are so many times I find myself doing something for someone else out of the kindness of my heart and not thinking twice about it ..and that person happens to have been at the end of their stick, fed up with life or depressed until YOU came in and made that day a positive day for them, or a positive week! You see people shooting up schools and committing suicide, when It's amazing what the power of love and compassion can do for someone else; including saving their lives and the lives of those they otherwise would have inflicted pain upon.

I hope my impulse wasn't too much of a novel for you all. It was on my heart and I pray it has opened yours.

Love,

Dom