Loving Yourself

So, grad classes begin seven weeks from today, yay! My sisters are asking when will i be done with school and get a job. Truth be told, i wish i never have to stop. Ah, i'm such a nerd! Well, what can i say? I love learning. My high school motto was "Vitta Sine Litteris Mors Est " (life without learning is death), and given the history of my history, i never want to stop learning. I feel like my ancestors were denied access to literacy and book learning in such a way as to preserve their self-denigration and put a leash on their potential as a people. And that is why so many of us are still searching for ourselves. Lord! I feel like i am about to start preaching! The reality for many of us is that we have to finish high school, if we're lucky, and find a job, if we are lucky. See, when you have that kind of history you are already at the back of the line, and when the race begins, you have to jump over hoops and hurdles to get to the front; some people never get to the front. When i look in the mirror (and i don't look in the mirror often) i see a girl with a dream, a big dream, who has to use a whole lot of imagination to see herself at the front of the line. The reason she still clings to that hope is because that is all she has. She has no inheritance, except what history has handed down, and she has no treasures. When i think about all the people that i carry on my shoulders, the pressure isn't so bad. This is our journey. So when my sisters ask casually, "when are you going to finish school?" they have no idea that it is actually a "we" question, and they also do not know why i always respond with a casual "i don't know" answer.

For all you believers and dreamers, keep believing and keep dreaming. Always try to be your best self, regardless of what others think about you. Define you, and do not let others be the definers of you and your destiny. Your future is what you make of your present, and only you can change it. Love yourself, love yourself, love yourself. Then, and only then, will you begin to see yourself among others and begin to love them too. Set a goal, and work towards that goal. Live everyday as if it is your last, that way you have no regrets. Be a leader by example so that others will see, and shine from your light. Love your children and teach them the importance of family; guide them to be their best self. This is the road to happiness. When you get there, celebrate...