A Word about Maturity

So, as of late, I’ve been coming into a certain level of maturity, but not so much in a way that you may think. My maturity involves sticking with certain decisions even in the face of outside sources that pull me in a different direction.

I had to ask myself: How would going back really enhance my life? What benefits would I gain? What would be the purpose for trailing back?

All of these questions led me to one conclusion: There was no purpose other than the fact that my mind had me believing that I needed to backtrack to get clarity when I already had all the clarity I needed.

The thing about maturity is that you will eventually reach a place where you will no longer look to the same things you did in the past. But what most people do is look back, forgetting about the maturity they’ve reach because of loneliness or boredom. Don’t get so bored with your life that you start conjuring up all these excuses for why you need to “go back for closure.”

This is where you incorporate your own newness into your life: try new restaurants, go to new places with your friends, read a new book, etc.

Do not be alarmed when you find that past thoughts are escaping you. When you feel an itch that urges you to creep back into your past state of mind, don’t let it overtake you.

Don’t mistake your pondering on the past for a “sign” that is telling you to go back and fix things. Instead, rediscover why you made that choice in the first place.

In your maturity stage, you may make some difficult choices, but you also find release in that.

  

A part of growing up is living with the decisions you’ve made. If every 5 minutes you find yourself wanting to retract your decision, how can you expect to grow up and out of something?

Release yourself from past desires; be content with your decisions.  It’s good if you’re not craving the same things.

The things you find safety in are not always the things you can thrive in, they’re not always healthy for you.

Cleanse your palette and gain a new taste for something.

The problem with Potential

You stay
because you can see it
Far off into the distance
A glimmer of light
at the end of the tunnel
The present is not so bad
with the future in sight
What 'could be'
chumps 'what is'
Present pains
seem only momentary
But in reality
They are not beacons

…cause nobody likes to eat a bruised apple.

Have you ever encountered a bitter person?

My guess is that you have. Who hasn’t?

Maybe it was the prettiest person you’ve ever seen and they seemed so amazing on the outside, but the inside of them resembled the image we see when visualizing day one of the apocalypse.

What looks good on the outside isn’t always good. Everything that glitters ain’t gold, right?

How many movies have there been with a beautiful girl who’s popular (especially with the guys) and seems to have everything going for her but has an ugly attitude and outlook on life?

Don’t be one of those pretty people who have ugly insides. You don’t have to act snobby because everyone thinks you’re pretty, and guys don’t have to be manipulative just because all the girls think they’re hot stuff.

With the advances in today’s makeup looks and in the common “selfie” specifications, it is all designed to make us focus primarily on the flesh people see on a daily basis and has little to do with creating a well-functioning inner self. Stop focusing so much on primping the outer layer of who you are and take a nice, reflective look at who you are underneath when no one is around.

If someone were to peel back your outer layer, they should see all things beautiful coming into formation to create a masterpiece.

When people take you in, let it be a pleasurable intake, a breath of fresh air. Be the sweet aroma that interrupts someone’s day of odor. There’s nothing wrong with smiling at people you don’t know. Let your smile be someone’s sunshine. Life is too short to be serious all the time. Why not make every encounter with you a meaningful one?

Every “bite” of you that someone takes should be succulent and divine, not brown with a weird texture…cause nobody likes to eat a bruised apple.

Cockiness v. Confidence

A few months back, the big fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao happened and each fighter felt they packed a punch in their favor. Pacquiao felt he was going to win because he had God on his side and Mayweather (the mouthy man he is) knew he was going to win because he felt he was a better competitor than his opponent.

As I watched the many clips of Mayweather’s preparation for his night of fame in Las Vegas, I realized that he seemed overly big-headed. But from his words and the work he put in every day I couldn’t help but wonder if he was cocky or just plain ol’ confident.

I think the distinction between these two words lies in how your idea of others transforms with your newfound skill.

You see,

Confidence= I know who I am; Cockiness= I know that I am better than you, and you, and you over there

It’s very hard to lead a life of success if you waver in who you are because then it will be easy for people to hinder you from coming into your full potential.

I used a version of this quote in my post “Discover, Accept, then Run” but I chose to change it a bit to fit this post:

“If you continually doubt your identity, your beauty, or your capacities, then it will be very difficult for you to accomplish anything.”

Mayweather was just a man who knew what he could do. He was confident in his training and in his undefeated title.

For him, he knew who he was and for that reason he felt that he was better than his opponent because of it—not saying that this is how we should feel towards others, but can’t we all learn a little something from Mayweather?

Just like Mayweather, if you put the right amount of effort into your endeavors, you too can feel confident when the time comes for you to deliver.

Don’t wander through your life being unsure of who you are and what you’re capable of. Don’t keep letting your identity be tampered with. Declare who you are and walk in your authority. Don’t tread lightly in it.

Invincibly

I wish to be a unicorn
viciously chasing after daydreams
that others could not even fathom
as they decay from a mind dried of imagination.
What happens to a dream deferred?
I will not be included in the barrels
of sun-dried raisins that have been
poured amongst the masses
to be scattered--
loved but living on merely in a memory
never to be revived again.
I wish to believe in empty stars
drenched in untold desires &
prayers that have been preyed on by
self-fulfilled prophecies.
I wish to soar amongst
the broken-winged eagles that were told
recovery is not an option.
I wish to become the eyes
unhindered by a worldly lens.
To see more, to do more, to be more
I wish to become invincible