You gotta let me grow baby!
" It seems I lossed my little homie he's a changed man" I AIN'T MAD AT CHA, 2PAC
Getting right into it, I ran across an old friend and during our brief discussion, she reminded me of some things I'd done when we were younger, of which I'd thought I had just recently started!
It's a shame but a reality, that you can forget who you were/are as you get older and take on roles and responsibilities.
Becoming a parent is possibly the biggest way to lose your identity! You'll willingly sacrifice self for years without much gratitude to people that think life started with them, and that you know absolutely nothing about the world and they know everything about it..
I know if my mom is reading this she's probably throwing her hands up in testimony, but hey experience is the best teacher!
I believe the next way we can succumb to identity crisis is through relationship. Be it marriage, or cohabitation, anyone that we share a significant amount of time and space with automatically creates an opinion of who we are, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Accept maybe, when the significant other knows you only for who you've been for a season or two in your life, and of course the story is far from being over!
Sadly, many of us allow our true identities to be buried, and often we are willing participants due to the roles that we have encompassed. What about when you have the desire to change, do the people who feel they know us best accept that growth, or do they see it as you being disingenuine!
I've found that change can be a threat to some people, even when it's good and beneficial to everyone. These are people that don't consider themselves to be your enemy, they actually can be those that claim they love you, or have loved you. The story and perception that they have of you can imprison you if you're not aware and careful.
If you don't believe that you can get caught up in someone else's perception, I offer that you examine the nightly news!
For all of the years that I can remember watching the news, there has been a common theme of Blacks, specifically Young Black Men committing all of the crime in the city. Of course, that is far from true, not only do Black Men not commit all the crime in the city, all Black Men, young or older are not criminals!
Over the years that message has taken a toll on the consciousness of Young Black Men, to the point that more young brothas have begun entertaining criminal mindset, behavior and energy. Yes, there' has and always will be a group that chooses to be on that type of time, you won't change them, but that's never been relegated to just Black Men. That idea was formatted and sold on television and in movies.
We all have to be accountable for our actions, but living a different story, or writing your own script
comes with knowledge of self! We all can get a little lost and out of sorts when we forget who we are, and sometimes it requires a separation from those that can't see you but one way. When they can't let you grow, they've given you no option but to make them let you go!
8:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Exodus