Be Independent…Be Your Masterpiece
It’s July 4th, 2021. Independence Day for The United States of America. It was on this day in the year 1776 that the Continental Congress declared that the 13 colonies were no longer under British rule. This was the day that a new country was born. A new vision. A new…a new…opportunity was realized for what Freedom from servitude could look and feel like. What a day!
Now, I know, many reading this are already assuming the through line of this story…what my perspective as a Black Man may be on the 4th of July, but today, there’s a new, a more positive vision.
Today, on this “Independence Day”…I’m optimistic. I’m waking to this day reflective of the power of Personal Independence. The power of resilience and triumph over so many odds. I’m reflecting on the communities of people, identities, beliefs that were made to believe they were “never good enough”. That they weren’t “pretty enough”, “not smart enough”, “not skilled enough”. The people like me that were often picked last on the baseball field, the basketball court, the classroom, or the court of romance.
Today, on this “Independence Day”…I’m optimistic. I’m waking to this morning reflective of the power of Personal Independence.
While we don’t often think of it, many of us spend our entire lives living for “them”, not “us”. Whether it’s at our job, in our relationships, in our communities…wherever it may be. Working, toiling, achieving goals set by someone else’s vision of what we were meant to be. Behaving in ways that are meant, not to bring us joy, happiness, and purpose, but to create comfort and acceptance by a world that often doesn’t even accept itself. There is a servitude, a Stockholm “ness” in this behavior that drives our potential, our greatness…beneath our subconscious. Blind in the face of judgement.
On this day, I remind myself of how much I’ve been overlooked, undervalued, underestimated. Too too many times. But I also reflect on how many times I’ve had great support, great people, family, and “believers” around me to help me beat the odds, and to achieve my many Personal “Independence Days”. The days I embraced the many blessings around me and broke free from reliance on outside affirmation. The days I realized the power within me, the potential my parents and family set forth for me, the beauty of my imperfections, the absolute greatness of my ambition and commitment to “being better”. That nothing is permanent, but PRESENCE and LOVE is infinite. Living for now, loving for today, thriving for this second. Waking on the 4th of July, and EVERY OTHER day…inspired by how much I love life, how much I love others around me, but more importantly…how much I love myself. Looking my sons in the eyes, every day and night and telling them… “you are brave, you are strong, you are smart, you love your family, and you love yourself”. Embracing my community, my loved ones and encouraging them to “Be Better…Be…YOU!”.
While we don’t often think of it, many of us spend our entire lives living for “them”, not “us”. Whether it’s at our job, in our relationships, in our communities…wherever it may be. Working, toiling, achieving goals set by someone else’s vision of what we were meant to be.
I walk into this July 4th, 2021 encouraged by how this Personal Independence has taken me to places physically, spiritually, and emotionally that I would have never imagined as my younger self. How this belief in myself, at ALL COSTS…has helped me create safety for so many other young, old, and inspired people, on this same journey of self realization. How it’s allowed me to look doubt, shame, hate, and judgement square in it’s face, until it looked away. Or maybe more importantly, how this independence has given me the strength to help so many others become The Masterpiece they always were, but were never allowed to be…working to make a Better World and a Better Us.
So on this 4th of July…remember…YOU ARE WHAT MAKES YOU GREAT. YOU ARE WHO INSPIRES YOU, NURTURES YOU, AND MAKES THIS WORLD BETTER THAN IT COULD HAVE EVER BEEN. YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES ARE SOME OF THE MOST INSPIRING PEOPLE ON THIS PLANET. YOU…AND YOUR INDEPENDENCE OF THE JUDGEMENT, SCORING, AND LIMIT SETTING OF OTHERS, IS WHAT WILL CREATE A NEW, BETTER, AND MORE INCREDIBLE WORLD WE’VE EVER IMAGINED.
Be YOUR masterpiece today.
Happy Independence Day!