Everything ain't for Everybody

performing, contorting, and molding for approval never brings the embodied sense of belonging we so hope it does. Lisa Olivera 



On Saturday I was invited to speak at an event at the University of the West Indies. The theme was mental health. When I saw the theme I immediately thought- what do I know about mental health? I was on the verge of declining. The conversation was going really well and I realized that I would really like to be a part of a movement which allows for healing in an authentic way. I said Yes, Yes to doing something that scared me, yes to showing up and saying what I felt was important on my own journey towards healing and yes to doing something new. 

News flash - there will be people who your story will not resonate with, people who cannot relate and plain ole don't like the sight and sound of you. Do what you do anyway. Your message, story, work, purpose is not for them and will bless others.

This was a hard concept for me to learn, truth be told, I want everyone to like me. The moment I started paying attention to those who don't I lost focus.

The lessons I learnt from going ahead and showing up to share authentically are:

1. Be intentional 

2. I have zero control over what people think and ought not to manipulate any situation nor worry about it.

3. Be myself, have fun, be kind

4. Learn from the mistakes, be open to feedback

5. Everything is not for everybody!

Peace


Akosua's Books

Nyabo (Madam) Why Are You Here?

Now What? The Flipside

What Did I Learn Today? Lessons on the Journey to Unconditional Self Love

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

30 Things I Believe

Image
What is being of service? Looking upon another human being with kindness and compassion and not judgement is a profound act of service and though such a form of service lacks for whistles and bells, this expression of “service” comes from truly understanding the power of your soul and what it means to “look upon another with eyes of grace.” Carolyn Myss 1. I believe in sleep 2. I believe that love can cure it all  3. I believe in feeling my feelings 4. I believe that nature is my best teacher 5. I believe that friends are family minus blood lines 6. I believe that discipline and consistency combined with talent  can and will can create miracles 7. I believe in following my intuition 8. I believe that rest is part of the Journey 9. I believe in that all things are lessons that God will have us learn 10. I believe in choosing the people around you with care 11. I believe that vacations can reboot creativity  12. I believe in joy - doing what brings you joy - and often 13
Read more

What Does Support Look Like to You?

Image
  You save yourself energy when you learn to ask people what they need, instead of assuming you know best then acting on your own impulses. Allowing people to define what support looks like gives you an ability to assess if you have the capacity to show up - Minaa B If someone asks you right now, what does support look like to you, what would be your answer? It takes self reflection , self awareness and more importantly a whole load of authenticity to answer. On the flip side, do you rush to support others without them even asking- there may be times when that is required, however many a time we assume that we know what others want and need. The times when we do assume, after a while a feeling of resentment builds because "how could they be so ungrateful?" or "why are they not seeing their need for my help?" the other classic is "they must need my help to show them because they clearly are not seeing that they need support" We continue to assume what othe
Read more

Sensible Optimism

Image
  Optimism is usually defined as a belief that things will go well. But that's incomplete. Sensible optimism is a belief that the odds are in your favor, and over time things will balance out to a good outcome even if what happens in between is filled with misery. And in fact you  know  it will be filled with misery. You can be optimistic that the long-term growth trajectory is up and to the right, but equally sure that the road between now and then is filled with landmines, and always will be. Those two things are not mutually exclusive." Who told us that all the roads on the Journey of life will be smooth and bump free? And even if you knew or remember who told you, why did you believe it given what you know? What if the blessing, what if the growth, what if the joy is found on the rocky bumpy road? What if? And if it is, we can rest easier that the bumps and rocky roads are designed with us in mind, designed for us to grow, to learn, to live a life that is filled with varie
Read more